Daniel Ortega says there will be no more elections in Nicaragua for the opposition to gain power

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said there will be no more elections in the country that would allow the opposition to return to power.

“Forget it. Here in Nicaragua, there will be no more elections for them to try to seize the government and take power,” Ortega said during an event marking the 47th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution in Managua.

Ortega, 80, first ruled Nicaragua in the 1980s and returned to power in 2007. Since then, he has remained in office alongside his wife, Rosario Murillo, following elections that have been widely criticized by the opposition and international observers.

Although Nicaragua was expected to hold general elections this November, a constitutional reform approved about a year and a half ago extended the presidential term from five to six years, delaying the next elections until November 2027.

Ortega and Murillo maintain broad control over the country’s institutions. Following the 2018 anti-government protests, whose crackdown left more than 300 people dead according to the United Nations, their government has faced sustained international criticism over its human rights record.