Daniel Ortega Moves To Quash Nicaragua's Presidential Term Limits
November 7, 2013
Nicaragua's president, Daniel Ortega, is pushing for changes to the constitution that would cement his second term in office by removing provisions that appear to rule it invalid.
Critics have warned that if the change is enacted presidents would be able to serve unlimited consecutive terms in office.
Nicaraguan lawmakers on Wednesday began studying the proposal by Ortega to remove an article in the constitution intended to bar consecutive presidential terms.
The country's highest court has already allowed Ortega to serve a second consecutive term but an analyst said the president probably wanted to remove the wording from the charter to solidify that ruling and undercut criticism of his re-election.
The National Assembly secretary Alba Palacios said she and six other lawmakers had formed a commission to study the proposal that would present its opinion to the full assembly by December.
The constitution article in question prohibits consecutive presidential terms but in 2010 the supreme court overturned the ban, a ruling the electoral commission said was final. The ruling allowed Ortega to run for president for a second straight term in 2011.
If approved "the reform would set a dangerous precedent that could extend the time all elected officials can stay in power", said Danilo Aguirre Solis, a political analyst.
Gabriel Alvarez, a constitutional law expert, said the proposal would only formalise the supreme court's decision, which Ortega's opponents contend was illegal and made by a heavily politicised judiciary.
"It's an unnecessary change because the supreme court has already ruled on that, but I think they are doing it so that those who call [Ortega's government] illegal, spurious, de facto or unconstitutional can no longer label him that way," Alvarez said.
Other Latin American leaders including Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, Rafael Correa in Ecuador and Alvaro Uribe in Colombia have manoeuvered to extend their terms in office.
Ortega first left the presidency in 1990 after losing an election to Violeta Chamorro. He was re-elected in 2006, then won again in 2011 after the supreme court allowed him to run.
Ortega's proposal also seeks to eliminate the required minimum of 35% of the votes a candidate needs to win a presidential election. He proposes that the candidate with the most votes should win as long as the total is at least 5%.
