Elections in Nicaragua: Government highlights ‘massive turnout’ | Six presidential candidates are presented

Two hours after the vote, the government and the opposition conduct their first assessment of the different election day. The opposition says few people will vote, while the government says there was an “amazing, massive turnout”.

This was the election Questioned by opposition parties and part of the international community. The Organization of American States and the European Union have questioned the imprisonment of several presidential candidates. In addition to social organizations and opponents They called not to vote in Sunday’s elections.

With long queues of people waiting to vote for at least an hour before the districts opened, Presidential elections have begun in Nicaragua, in which the current president Daniel Ortega Show as favorite.

At seven in the morning (local time) polling stations opened for four and a half million eligible Nicaraguans to vote.

At the start of the voting, local television showed queues of people waiting to enter.

“It’s an incredible, massive turnout,” said Gustavo Porras, leader of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and president of the National Assembly, the Parliament of Nicaragua.

Boras, like other candidates for deputies of the ruling party, They highlighted the “peace” and “tranquility” with which the elections are taking place. The people of Nicaragua say that this vote is to defend sovereignty and self-determination without foreign interference. We build our own way“, claimed.

But the opposition’s view of the government is different. The National Unity of Blue and White (UNAB), which brings together social and political organizations in Nicaragua, has released photos from different regions of the country showing empty streets. Media critical of the government also showed pictures of a small audience in some quarters.

Nicaragua’s Christian Way Party presidential candidate, Guillermo Osorno, voted early Sunday and warned that prosecutors should not be allowed into polling stations. “We are alerting the electoral authorities to put the system in place and the result is effective,” Osorno added.

Meanwhile, many people who went before the opening of the circuits defended the government. “I have come to ratify the government of Daniel OrtegaSaid, for example, Edgar in a local television interview.

The advisor also expressed himself before the vote Dennis Moncada. The minister explained that he came to exercise the “sacred right” to vote and that “Nicaraguans” are the ones who elect the authorities “to decide the policies that are implemented in the country and not imperialism,” he said.

Then he sent a message to critics of the country’s electoral process: “Nicaragua is not afraid, and Nicaragua is not threatened”.

Run the election

On Election Day Sunday, 4,478,334 citizens are authorized to elect the president for the 2022-2027 term, as well as 90 representatives from the National Assembly and 20 representatives from the Central American Parliament.

The electoral register of eligible persons consists of citizens over 16 years of age who have participated in at least one of the last three elections. According to information received from the Supreme Electoral Council, there will be 3,106 polling stations across the country where 13,459 voter boards will be set up, with an average of 332.7 voters each.

The Six Candidates

There are six presidential candidates: Daniel Ortega by the Sandinista National Liberation Front; Walter Espinosa by the Liberal Constitutional Party; Mauricio Oroi Vazquez by the Independent Liberal Party; Marcelo de Jesus Montel Fernandez by the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance; Gerson Gutierrez Gasparin by the Alliance for the Republic and Guillermo Osorno Along the Nicaraguan Christian Road.

Three parties are unable to participate in this election and 7 presidential candidates are imprisoned: Christiana Chamorro, daughter of the former president and the most popular opponent, as well as Felix Maradiaga, Arturo Cruz, Medardo Marina, Miguel Mora, Noel Fedori and Juan Sebastian Chamorro. All of them were imprisoned between June and July of this year.

The Law on Defending the Rights of the People to Independence, Sovereignty and Self-Determination for Peace, which was approved in December 2020, has been applied to all of them.