Nicaraguan lawmakers approve reform to expand Ortega’s power

Nicaragua’s parliament, dominated by the ruling Sandinista Front, on Friday approved a constitutional reform that gives more power to President Daniel Ortega and the Central American country’s police and military.

The reform strengthens the president’s control over the media, extends the presidential term from five to six years, and changes the roles of the vice president and president to those of “co-presidents.”

Vice President Rosario Murillo, Ortega’s wife, will now become his co-president. They have been married since 2005, and she became vice president in 2017.

Ortega has cracked down on dissent in recent years. More than 200 political prisoners were released early last year and expelled to the United States, including five former presidential candidates who were jailed after trying to challenge the increasingly authoritarian Ortega in the 2021 election.

In accordance with the new reform, the co-presidents will have control over the legislative, judicial and electoral powers, government administration and oversight bodies, as well as over autonomous entities.

It also requires the state to ensure that the media “do not bend to foreign interests or spread false news.”

The reform must pass a second vote in the legislature next year before becoming law.

Government critics say the reforms would legalize the “absolute power” that Ortega and Murillo have enjoyed for years.

The Organization of American States, a regional diplomatic body, said it intends through Ortega and Murillo to “strengthen their absolute control over the state and maintain their positions in power.”

The reform, which Ortega, 79, sent to Congress on Tuesday “as a matter of urgency,” was unanimously approved by 91 lawmakers.

The head of the legislature, Gustavo Porras, confirmed at a meeting on Friday that the reform will be put to a vote and approved a second time on January 10, in accordance with Nicaraguan law, which requires constitutional changes to be approved in two legislative periods.

Porras brushed off criticism of the reform as a “stupid way to resist.”

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said the changes mark a worrying further erosion of checks and balances in the executive branch.

“If passed, these changes will sound the death knell for fundamental freedoms and the rule of law in Nicaragua,” he said in a statement. REUTERS