NICARAGUA PRESIDENT ORTEGA ANNOUNCES END TO ELECTIONS

Daniel Ortega announced on Sunday that Nicaragua will hold no further elections, eliminating the possibility of an electoral challenge to his rule. The 80-year-old president made the statement during a ceremony marking the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Sandinista revolution. Ortega said the move would prevent opposition parties from coming to power, stating: "There won't be any more elections here for them to try to seize the government and seize power." He added that US-backed parties would "never again" return to power. The announcement marked Ortega's first public appearance in two months, according to one account, or in 61 days according to another.

Ortega has held office continuously since 2007, following an earlier presidential term in the 1980s. He shares power with his wife, Rosario Murillo. Ortega said he would work with the National Assembly to pass new laws that would "build a wall" against the opposition. Nicaragua's last election in 2021 was widely disputed after opponents and business leaders were detained and dissent was criminalised. The Trump administration has described the Ortega government as a dictatorship and imposed sanctions on more than 2,350 Nicaraguan officials and their relatives.

Elections had been scheduled for next year but Ortega provided no details about implementation of the election ban. One analyst described the announcement as marking the country's "transition to a full-fledged family dictatorship", representing a significant rhetorical escalation in the erosion of democracy. The announcement came during a ceremony attended by thousands of state employees.