Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has announced that the country will no longer conduct elections, signalling an end to any future opportunity for opposition groups to challenge his administration.
Ortega made the declaration on Sunday while speaking at an event marking the anniversary of the 1979 Sandinista Revolution, which overthrew the US-backed government of Anastasio Somoza.
The 79-year-old leader, who has governed Nicaragua since 2007 after previously serving in the 1980s, said elections would no longer be used as a route to political power.
“There won’t be any more elections here for them to try to seize the government and seize power,” Ortega said.
He also ruled out the return of political groups he accused of being backed by the United States.
“The days when parties backed by the Yankees (United States) and the Somocistas would return to power are over — never again,” he declared.
Ortega’s comments are seen as further tightening his administration’s grip on power alongside his wife, Rosario Murillo, who now serves as Nicaragua’s co-president following constitutional reforms introduced in 2025.
The amendments extended the presidential term from five to six years and placed the country’s legislative, judicial and electoral institutions under the authority of the presidency. The reforms also elevated Murillo from vice-president to co-president, strengthening the couple’s control over the state.
The United States has repeatedly criticised the Ortega-Murillo administration, describing it as a dictatorship. Washington has imposed sanctions on government officials and their allies, while the State Department has issued visa restrictions affecting more than 2,350 Nicaraguan officials and their family members.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reaffirmed Washington’s support for the Nicaraguan people in June.
“The United States stands with the Nicaraguan people who, like Rivera, aspire to see a free Nicaragua,” Rubio said.
The Biden administration had earlier rejected the legitimacy of Ortega’s 2021 re-election, citing the arrest of opposition candidates, journalists, business leaders and government critics ahead of the vote.
Human rights organisations and United Nations experts have also accused Ortega’s government of systematically suppressing dissent, dismantling opposition parties and stripping critics of their citizenship.
According to UN investigators, some of the alleged abuses committed by the Ortega-Murillo administration could amount to crimes against humanity.
