2021 Nicaraguan general election

General elections were held in Nicaragua on 7 November 2021 to elect the President, the National Assembly and members of the Central American Parliament.

President Daniel Ortega of the Sandinista National Liberation Front sought re-election, while five opposition candidates appeared on the ballot. In early June, police arrested five other potential opposition candidates: Cristiana Chamorro Barrios, Arturo Cruz Jr., Félix Maradiaga, Juan Sebastián Chamorro and Miguel Mora. In July, candidates Medardo Mairena and were arrested, while Luis Fley and went into exile due to threats of arrest. Critics stated that these arrests were intended to prevent the opposition candidates from running against Ortega.

The deadline for candidates to register was 2 August 2021, and on 3 August, vice-presidential candidate Berenice Quezada was placed under house arrest and disqualified from running. Her party, ( es, Ciudadanos por la Libertad, CxL), and its presidential candidate Oscar Sobalvarro, had their legal status suspended by the Supreme Electoral Council the following week, and Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC) candidate resigned in protest.

The elections were criticized as a sham by the European Union, Organization of American States, United States, Community of Latin American and Caribbean States independent election observers and human rights groups, due to the intimidation, detention, and disqualification of opposition journalists and politicians, since these actions secured victory for Ortega and his allies.

Electoral system

The President of Nicaragua is elected using first-past-the-post voting system.

The 90 elected members of the National Assembly are elected by two methods; 20 members are elected from a single nationwide constituency, whilst 70 members are elected from 17 multi-member constituencies ranging in size from 2 to 19 seats. Both types of election are carried out using closed list proportional representation with no electoral threshold. A further two seats are reserved for the runner-up in the presidential election and the outgoing president (or their vice president).

Lists of candidates to the National Assembly and to the Central American Parliament must have an equal number of male and female candidates.

Presidential candidates

Arrested or disqualified individuals

Several individuals were prevented from participating in the election, including opposition candidates Milton Arcia, who resigned following the controversial ban on the CxL party, farm worker leader Medardo Mairena, journalist Miguel Mora, political scientist Félix Maradiaga, economist Juan Sebastián Chamorro, journalist Cristiana Chamorro Barrios, YATAMA activist George Henriquez, Ortega's former Ambassador to the United States Arturo Cruz Jr. and former rebel leader Luis Fley.
File:Cristiana Chamorro Barrios May 2021.jpg, Cristiana Chamorro Barrios (arrested)
File:Juan Sebastián Chamorro García.jpg, Juan Sebastián Chamorro (arrested)
File:Milton Arcia April 2015.jpg, Milton Arcia (resigned)
File:Arturo Cruz in 2020.jpg, Arturo Cruz Jr. (arrested)
File:Luis Fley 2020.jpg, Luis Fley (exiled)
File:George Henriquez February 2020.jpg, George Henriquez (lost party nomination)
File:Medardo Mairena at the National Coalition proclamation signing February 2020b crop.jpg, Medardo Mairena (arrested)
File:Félix Maradiaga in December 2018 at SOAS.jpg, Félix Maradiaga (arrested)
File:Miguel Mora.jpg, Miguel Mora (arrested)
File:Oscar Sobalvarro 2005.jpg, Oscar Sobalvarro (suspended)
File:Noel Vidaurre April 2016.jpg, Noel Vidaurre (arrested)

Campaign

Lead-up to campaign

In May 2021, a CID-Gallup poll reported 33% support for the incumbent president.

In May, Nicaragua's Supreme Electoral Council revoked the legal status of the opposition party Democratic Restoration Party (Partido Restauración Democrática, PRD).

The same week, the government opened an investigation into Cristiana Chamorro's work at the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation, alleging money laundering, which threatened to disqualify her candidacy as people under investigation are barred from running. The day Chamorro was called in for questioning, the police also raided the news offices of her brother Carlos's media channel, Confidencial, confiscating equipment and arresting a cameraman. Chamorro subsequently announced she would join the primary, alongside seven other candidates, for the conservative Citizens for Liberty party, the only remaining opposition party legally qualified to field a candidate in the November 2021 election, after the PRD's disqualification. The Ortega government then announced she was disqualified from running; the Secretary General for the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, issued a statement saying: "Actions like this remove all political credibility from the government and the organizers of the electoral process." On 2 June the government raided Chamorro's house and detained her 15 minutes before she was scheduled to give a press conference. Almagro criticized the arrest.

On 5 June, the government arrested another potential candidate, Arturo Cruz. He was detained for allegations he “attacked Nicaraguan society and the rights of the people” in violation of Law No. 1055, enacted in December 2020, the “law for the defense of the rights of the people to independence, sovereignty, and self-determination for peace”, called the “Guillotine Law” by critics.

On 8 June, the government arrested a third potential candidate, Félix Maradiaga, a leader of the Blue and White National Unity (UNAB) opposition group. Later the same day they arrested economist Juan Sebastián Chamorro, cousin of Cristiana and the fourth pre-candidate to be detained.

On 13 June, five more opposition leaders were arrested. These included four members of the leadership of the left-wing Unamos party consisting of former FSLN activists: party president Suyen Barahona.

On 15 June, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States issued a statement saying it “unequivocally condemns the arrest, harassment and arbitrary restriction imposed on potential presidential candidates, political parties and independent media outlets" and called for “the immediate release of potential candidates and all political prisoners.” A large majority of member states (26) endorsed the statement; however, Mexico and Argentina did not sign onto the resolution.

On 20 June, the government arrested Miguel Mora, a pre-candidate who had been affiliated with the PRD. Following Mora's arrest, Mexico and Argentina jointly recalled their ambassadors from Nicaragua for consultation, citing “the worrying political-legal actions carried out by the Nicaraguan government in recent days that have put at risk the integrity and freedom of various opposition figures (including presidential candidates), Nicaraguan activists and businessmen”.

Peasant leader Medardo Mairena was arrested on the night of 5 July 2021, the sixth pre-candidate to be detained and one of roughly two dozen opposition and civic leaders detained by the Ortega government since the beginning of June 2021. Two other peasant leaders and two student leaders were also arrested that night. Like most of those already arrested, they are accused of violations of Law 1055, “performing acts that undermine independence, sovereignty, and self-determination“. All detained have been sentenced to 90 days of preventative detention.

On 9 July, law professor and Civic Alliance attorney María Asunción Moreno announced her intention to register as a pre-candidate with the CxL. The following day, she received a summons from the government, and, following information that she would be arrested, went into hiding. She later went into exile.

On 12 July, Luis Fley confirmed he had gone into exile in response to “threats from the dictatorship to arrest me”. He also withdrew his candidacy, saying that with so many candidates jailed the election was already compromised and his continued candidacy would only play into Ortega's hand.

Kitty Monterrey, president of the CxL, announced the two primary candidates would be and . However, businessman and former Contra commander and CxL vice-president Oscar Sobalvarro was added to the list on 24 July.

Later on 24 July, the government announced the investigation and then the arrest of ACxL pre-candidate Noel Vidaurre, who had challenged Ortega in previous elections. As with most of the other candidates, Vidaurre was accused of violating Law 1055, committing “treason to the homeland”. He was held in police custody at his home. Political commentator Jaime Arellano was detained the same day.

Official campaigning and candidates

The deadline for candidates to register was 2 August 2021.

On 3 August, CxL vice-presidential candidate Berenice Quezada was placed under house arrest and barred from running on charges of "apology for crime and incitement to hatred" following campaign statements allegedly sympathizing with the 2018–2021 Nicaraguan protests. ''The Guardian'' reported that "She was the eighth contender in the election to be arrested since May. The other seven candidates and about two dozen opposition leaders have been arrested on vague treason charges. Most of those arrested in the crackdown are being held incommunicado, at undisclosed locations and with no access to lawyers."

On 6 August, following a complaint from Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PCL) board and its president María Haydee Osuna that CxL president Kitty Monterrey was a dual national, the Supreme Electoral Council cancelled the legal status of the CxL and instructed the relevant administrative body to revoke Monterrey's national identity card. Arcia, the PLC's candidate, resigned in protest at the PLC's role in the events; he was immediately replaced by PLC National Assembly deputy . On 11 August, the PLC vice-presidential nominee María Dolores Moncada resigned, refusing to continue on the ticket with Espinoza.

In September, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights made statements criticising the detention of opposition activists. Family members of detained activists including would-be candidate Juan Sebastián Chamorro and opposition activists Víctor Tinoco, Tamara Dávila and Lesther Alemán told the press of their poor treatment, including isolation and lack of access to health care. Also in September, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Sergio Ramírez, a former Sandinista activist and then MRS activist, who escaped into exile in Costa Rica.

A group of South American and Spanish communist Ortega and Murillo supporters were invited as "electoral accompaniers", appointed by the Supreme Electoral Council on 28 September. The Organization of American States (OAS) appointed former Costa Rican president Luis Guillermo Solís as head of the official Electoral Observation mission. On 19 October 2021 Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that the government would not invite the OAS mission, accusing them of being participants in the 2019 Bolivian political crisis. Moncada also said that " he electionwill count on the free participation of legally constituted political parties, which have legal personality and are participating individually or in alliance". Along with Cuba and Venezuela, Nicaragua was ranked in August 2021 as one of the countries with the worst electoral observation index in the region.

In October, Gallup-CID polling found that support for Ortega had dropped to 19%, while M&R, a polling company contracted by the governing party, found Ortega's popular support to be at nearly 80%.

On 3 November 2021, the Nicaraguan newspaper ''Confidencial'' announced that President Ortega banned the entry of foreign press to the country to cover the elections, as in the previous days several journalists were refused entry by the immigration authorities.

A week before the vote, the president declared that his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, was henceforth the “co-president” of the country, a term with no legal definition in Nicaragua.

Conduct

On election day there were several protest marches and demonstrations against the elections by Nicaraguans living overseas. In Costa Rica, thousands of Nicaraguan citizens marched through the main streets of the capital San José, considering them to be a "circus and an electoral fraud". The march started at the Statue of León Cortés located in the center of the city and ended at the Plaza de la Democracia. Another group of demonstrators headed towards the Nicaraguan embassy. In the United States, protests took place in Washington, D.C., chanting slogans such as "Democracy YES, Dictatorship NO" and carrying banners such as "Viva Nicaragua Libre". The demonstrators went to protest in front of the Nicaraguan embassy and then headed towards the headquarters of the OAS to ask international organization not to recognize the election results. Another march took place in Miami, where Nicaraguan demonstrators gathered at the Plaza Rubén Darío to protest, marching to the Nicaraguan consulate general displaying banners such as "If he doesn't leave, we'll take him out". Protests were also registered in several other American cities and states, including Los Angeles, New York City, Houston and Colorado. A march also took place in Madrid, Spain.

The first polling stations opened at 06:38 in Managua, and one of the first to vote was Moncada. There were 3,160 polling stations prepared for the election day. The polls closed at 18:00, with no significant incidents and with an expected low turnout.

Results

President

In the early hours of 8 November, the president of the Supreme Electoral Council Brenda Rocha reported that with 49.25% of the votes counted, Daniel Ortega's Sandinista Front won the elections, obtaining 74.99% of the votes cast with a 65.3% turnout. However, the organization Urnas Abiertas (Open Ballot Boxes) estimated the turnout was much lower than the official results, at only 18.5%, according to an analysis by 1,450 poll-watchers at 563 voting centers across Nicaragua.

National Assembly

Central American Parliament

Reactions

International

*: The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, in a written statement, stated that the EU considers Ortega's reelection to lack "legitimacy" because the elections were held "without democratic guarantees". At the same time it urged the Nicaraguan president to immediately release all political prisoners and to "return the sovereignty of Nicaragua to the Nicaraguan people".
* Organization of American States: The Organization of American States voted to condemn the elections, saying they "were not free, fair or transparent, and lack democratic legitimacy.” Twenty five member states voted in favor of the resolution, seven abstained, and only one, Nicaragua, voted against the resolution.
* ALBA-TCP: The integration bloc of 10 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean issued a communiqué in which it welcomed the reelection of President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo, and congratulated the legislators elected to the Nicaraguan National Assembly and the Central American Parliament. It also recognized the economic, social and political achievements made by the Sandinista Revolution, which have allowed strengthening better conditions for the progress of Nicaragua.
*: Following the election, the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement raising concerns over the arrest of opposition leaders and the respect for the human rights of all Nicaraguans.
*: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bolivia issued the communiqué "greeting the brother Nicaraguan people for the participation and the democratic vocation in the electoral process of 7 November 2021". It also expressed its "conviction, that with majority participation and respect for the popular vote, democracy is strengthened, as the full exercise of the sovereignty of the people".
*: Colombian President Iván Duque declared that the Colombian government will not be recognizing the elections in Nicaragua and called for the General Assembly of the Organization of American States to establish a common position on the matter.
*: On the same day of the elections, Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado published a tweet in which he did not recognize the result of the Nicaraguan elections because of "their lack of democratic conditions and guarantees" and called on the international community to "promote the democratic process" in that country.
*: President Miguel Díaz-Canel congratulated Ortega on his re-election, saying that the elections held in Nicaragua “were a demonstration of sovereignty and civility in the face of the cruel media campaign”. He reiterated that his government will continue to support Nicaragua.
*: The government of Peru released a statement saying that the election does not "meet the minimum criteria for free, fair and transparent elections established by the Democratic Charter", and has called for the international community to reject the results.
*: The Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov described the calls by Western countries not to recognize the election results "unacceptable", as he considers that the voting was done "in accordance with the law".
*: The Spanish government stated that it "refuses to give credibility and legitimacy to the results that may derive from this process", adding that they are a "mockery" and demanded that "all arbitrarily imprisoned political prisoners and demonstrators be released immediately and unconditionally and that their judicial processes be annulled ..and that it complies with the international commitments contracted in the field of Human Rights".
*: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China on Taiwan said they will promote cooperation with the new government of Nicaragua.
*: The White House published a statement in which President Joe Biden accused the elections of being a "pantomime" and that they " ereneither free nor fair, and most certainly not democratic". He also called for the "regime to take immediate steps to restore democracy in Nicaragua, and to immediately and unconditionally release those unjustly imprisoned".
*:
**President Nicolás Maduro congratulated in a televised statement his counterpart Daniel Ortega for the "good news" and for the "good level of participation and ..for this day of peace, of participation".
**Juan Guaidó, leader of the opposition and disputed president, described the elections as a "fraud" and asked the international community to reject the process.

Others

*Human Rights Watch: José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas Division of the HRW, on election day, called the votings as a "sham".
*Four former Latin American presidents, Brazilian Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Costa Rican Laura Chinchilla, Chilean Ricardo Lagos and Colombian Juan Manuel Santos, alongside Secretary General of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, signed a letter stating that the election day was "marked by the violation of citizens' rights to freely and democratically elect their authorities", called for the suspension of Nicaragua from the OAS through the application of the Inter-American Democratic Charter to "deepen the isolation of the regime" and asked Latin American foreign ministers to "place the situation in Nicaragua as a priority issue at the next OAS General Assembly".

Notes

See also

* RENACER Act

References

{{Nicaraguan elections

Nicaragua
General election
Nicaragua
Presidential elections in Nicaragua
Elections in Nicaragua
Election and referendum articles with incomplete results