Nicaragua's Congress Plans to Abolish Elections, Formalizing Ortega's Declaration

Nicaragua's congress announced plans Tuesday to eliminate elections through a constitutional amendment, formally codifying President Daniel Ortega's declaration one day earlier that the country will hold no more elections.

Ortega made the announcement Sunday during a speech commemorating the 1979 Sandinista revolution, stating: "There won't be any more elections here for them to try to seize the government and seize power." He added: "The days when parties backed by the Yankees (United States) and the Somocistas would return to power are over, never again."

The move eliminates the last formal mechanism for political competition in Nicaragua. According to Fox News's reporting, Ortega's declaration effectively canceled scheduled elections for November 2027. Under constitutional reforms that took effect in 2025, the presidential term was extended from five to six years, and legislative, judicial, and electoral institutions were placed under presidential authority. Those same reforms elevated Rosario Murillo, Ortega's wife, from vice president to co-president, per Fox News. Together, Ortega and Murillo now exercise control over nearly every branch of government, including the armed forces, police, and judiciary.

Ortega is Nicaragua's longest-serving leader and has remained in power until early 2028, according to Fox News. Critics say Ortega had already effectively eliminated meaningful electoral competition during elections in 2011, 2016, and 2021. Many prominent opposition leaders have been imprisoned, forced into exile, or stripped of Nicaraguan citizenship, while opposition parties and independent civic organizations have lost their legal status, per Fox News.

A United Nations group of experts has accused the Ortega-Murillo government of systematically violating human rights as part of a campaign to eliminate criticism and preserve its hold on power, with some alleged violations possibly amounting to crimes against humanity, according to Fox News. A violent government crackdown on anti-government protests in 2018 resulted in more than 300 deaths, according to international human rights groups cited by Fox News.

The announcement drew swift international condemnation. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday: "Daniel Ortega's declaration that under his family's dictatorship, Nicaragua will never again hold elections lays bare their true authoritarian nature. Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have abandoned even the pretense of popular consent." Rubio added: "The Nicaraguan people have the right to choose their own leaders through democratic elections. The United States calls on the international community to join forces to demonstrate to the Murillo-Ortega dictatorship that it cannot expect to maintain business as usual with other nations when it is thwarting the basic tenets of our democratic hemisphere."

The Trump administration has described the Ortega-Murillo government as a dictatorship and imposed sanctions on members of the government and their allies, per Fox News. The State Department has enacted visa restrictions targeting more than 2,350 Nicaraguan officials and their family members, according to Fox News.

Volker Türk, the United Nations' high commissioner for human rights, said Wednesday: "People of all political viewpoints must be allowed to vote and run for office. These latest developments further deepen the severe restrictions on fundamental freedoms, the dismantling of civic space, and the steady erosion of the rule of law."