Nicaragua's legislature debates barring opposition from elections

Lead

Nicaragua's government-controlled National Assembly is debating a measure that would bar opposition parties from running in elections, with a vote expected in the first week of August. The move comes days after President Daniel Ortega said there "will be no more elections for them [the opposition] to try to seize the government, to seize power." Ortega's remarks have drawn international condemnation, including from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the US Secretary of State.

Coverage Comparison

The BBC reported that the National Assembly, which is controlled by the government, is considering the ban. Al Jazeera did not focus on the election debate but highlighted broader government actions against critics, including the revocation of lawyers' licences. The BBC also noted that Ortega's comments were condemned by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, who said that "people of all political viewpoints must be allowed to vote and run for office." Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported on a UN expert's characterization of the government's actions as a "purge of the legal profession."

Key Claims

President Daniel Ortega, who has been in power since 2007, made the remarks about barring opposition during a speech marking the anniversary of the 1979 Sandinista revolution. In his speech, he accused the opposition of being financed by the US and of "conspiring, trying to organise parties to try and win an election." He said laws would be passed "to create a wall, to block the coup mongers," ensuring that despite any funding from "the Yankees," they would not seize power.

His comments were condemned by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, as well as by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rubio said the remarks laid bare the "true authoritarian nature" of Ortega's rule, adding that Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, whom he named as "co-president" in February 2025, had "abandoned even the pretense of popular consent."

In response, the head of Nicaragua's National Assembly, Gustavo Porras, dismissed the international criticism. In an interview with a government-aligned news site, he said the legislative body and the country's highest electoral authority were debating how "to not leave even a crack" for the opposition to establish a foothold.

Presidential elections were last held in Nicaragua in November 2021 and were won by Ortega, as reported by the BBC.

Separately, Al Jazeera reported that the government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has been accused of human rights abuses against critics. The government has stripped numerous lawyers of their licences to practise, which critics see as another attack on the country's dissenters. On Friday, a UN expert called the government's actions a "purge of the legal profession," aimed at eroding the country's final democratic checks and balances.

The crackdown on dissent has intensified since mass social protests in 2018, which the government violently repressed. Since then, the government has imprisoned adversaries, religious leaders, journalists, and others, forcing thousands to flee the country. It has also stripped hundreds of their Nicaraguan citizenship and possessions, and shut down over 5,000 nongovernmental organisations, largely religious groups but also local rotary clubs and scouting organisations.

In recent days, lawyers noticed their licences to practise were removed without explanation from the Supreme Court of Justice's registry, as confirmed by several lawyers and reported by Reed Brody, an American human rights lawyer and member of a UN panel of experts on Nicaragua. There was no official notification from the government, and it did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. Brody said the full scope of the revocation was not immediately clear, but it would certainly appear to be at least hundreds.