Ortega Declares End to Elections in Nicaragua

On July 19, during the ceremony marking the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Sandinista Revolution, President Daniel Ortega announced that Nicaragua will no longer hold elections. He said the government will work with the National Assembly, dominated by his Sandinista Front, to draft laws that will “build a wall” against opposition parties and “coup plotters.” Ortega framed the move as a safeguard against forces he described as “traitors” seeking to seize power.

Nicaragua’s leftist president says no more elections Nicaragua's President Wants to Ban Elections Daniel Ortega Declares an End to Elections in Nicaragua BNO NewsThe GuardianNicaraguan President Daniel Ortega says Nicaragua will hold no more elections Ortega Declares No More Elections in Nicaragua

Ortega, a former guerrilla leader who helped overthrow the Somoza regime, returned to power in 2007 and has remained president ever since. Constitutional reforms enacted in early 2025 extended the presidential term to six years, promoted his wife Rosario Murillo to “co-president,” and concentrated authority over the armed forces, judiciary and legislature in the Ortega-Murillo couple.

Taipei Times

Since the 2018 anti-government protests, state forces have violently suppressed dissent, killing more than 300 people and imprisoning thousands. The 2021 election, in which Ortega claimed roughly 76 % of the vote, was denounced as a sham after the regime jailed all major opposition candidates. International observers have described Nicaragua’s electoral system as lacking genuine competition.

Al Jazeera (website)

• Political prisoners: ~50 (Human Rights Watch)

Nicaragua's president announces the country will never hold elections again, consolidating authoritarian rule

• Citizenship revocations: 546

Nicaragua's president announces the country will never hold elections again, consolidating authoritarian rule

• Civil-society shutdowns: >5,600 NGOs, 29 universities, 58 media outlets since 2018

Nicaragua's president announces the country will never hold elections again, consolidating authoritarian rule

• Exiles: nearly 1 million Nicaraguans have fled since 2018

Ortega Declares No More Elections in Nicaragua

Ortega also condemned the U.S. operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, calling it “monstrous.” The United States has labeled the Ortega-Murillo administration a dictatorship and imposed sanctions on more than 2,350 officials and their relatives.

Nicaragua's Ortega Declares No More Elections. Ever. — Glitchwire

Former 2021 candidate Juan Sebastián Chamorro, released from prison in 2023, said the statement confirms Ortega’s long-standing plan to consolidate power in a single-party system akin to China or Cuba.

NPR

Sources differ on the timing of the next scheduled vote. Some outlets report the election was due in November 2026, while others state it was moved to November 2027 after the 2025 amendment. No official decree has detailed the legal mechanism for abolishing elections, leaving the process unclear.

There Will Be No More Elections”: Nicaragua’s President Makes Loud Statement

• “There won’t be any more elections here for them to try to seize the government and seize power,” — Daniel Ortega

Taipei Times

• “Ortega and Murillo are evidently afraid at the idea that the slightest political opening could create the conditions for dissent to manifest and threaten their grip on power,” — Tiziano Breda, political analyst

NPR

• “With this decision, Ortega and Murillo have sealed the country’s transition to a full-fledged family dictatorship,” — Tiziano Breda

The Guardian

• “It indicates a potentially higher level of repression against people who demand the removal of the government or the holding of elections,” — Ramírez Ayérdiz

NPR