Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has announced that the country will no longer conduct elections, saying the decision is aimed at preventing opposition groups from returning to power.
Ortega made the declaration during celebrations marking the 47th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution, where he told thousands of government workers that his administration would work with the National Assembly to enact laws designed to block opposition parties from regaining political influence.
“There will be no more elections here so that they can try to seize the government and seize power,” the 80-year-old president said.
He accused opposition groups of plotting coups against his government and described them as traitors, insisting that new legislation would “build a wall” against such movements.
Although Ortega did not specify whether the 2027 general elections would be cancelled outright or whether opposition parties would simply be prevented from participating, his remarks have raised fresh concerns about the future of democracy in the Central American nation.
The president has been in office continuously since 2007. During the 2021 general elections, several opposition parties were banned, while a number of presidential hopefuls were arrested ahead of the polls, paving the way for Ortega’s re-election.
Political analysts described the latest announcement as a significant step toward consolidating authoritarian rule.
Senior analyst at the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), Tiziano Breda, said the move effectively reinforces Nicaragua’s transition into what he described as a family-led dictatorship under Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, who became co-president following constitutional reforms last year.
In his address, Ortega defended the decision by once again blaming opposition groups for the 2018 anti-government protests, which his administration has consistently characterised as an attempted coup.
However, the United Nations and several international human rights organisations have accused the government of violently suppressing the demonstrations, resulting in hundreds of deaths, thousands of arrests and the displacement of nearly one million people.
Ortega also criticised the United States during the speech, accusing Washington of orchestrating actions against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and describing the alleged operation as “monstrous.”
His administration has continued to face international scrutiny over its human rights record, with rights groups alleging that political prisoners remain in detention, hundreds of citizens have been stripped of their nationality, and thousands of non-governmental organisations, media outlets and universities have been shut down under his government.