No More Elections in Nicaragua, Says President Ortega

Author: Vera Rousseff

August 3, 2026

HRRC condemns the decision by President Daniel Ortega to suspend elections in Nicaragua. Free and fair elections are a critical part of a functioning democracy and serve as important safeguards to limit authoritarianism. We call on the Nicaraguan government to hold elections as planned and to end their repressive crackdown on Nicaraguan opposition groups, political dissenters, and civil society.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his wife and co-president Rosario Murillo [Image credit: AP Photo/Alfredo Zuniga]

On Sunday, July 19, Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega announced that there would be no more elections held in Nicaragua, further solidifying the longtime leader’s control over the country. He argued that elections must be suspended to prevent a victory by the political opposition, who he claimed are controlled by the United States. During his nearly 20-year-long rule as president, Ortega has implemented an increasingly repressive political regime, marked by a steady consolidation of power and strong crackdowns on opposition leaders, civil society, and political dissenters.

During a speech on Sunday, Ortega announced that "Parties put in place by the Yankees, put in place by the Somoza regime, coming back to power—that story is over." The declaration was a reference to the United States’ long history of political intervention in Nicaragua, particularly during the twentieth century, when it supported the Somoza family’s dictatorial regime for more than forty years. 

Ortega first served as president from 1984 to 1990, several years after participating in the overthrow of the U.S.-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza. He was elected again in 2007 and has since led efforts to strengthen his power and dismantle the country’s political opposition. In 2021, Ortega was re-elected in what opposition figures and the international community widely considered to be a rigged election. Last year, Ortega’s government approved a constitutional amendment to extend the presidential term, expand executive power, and promote Ortega’s wife, Rosario Murillo, from vice president to “co-president”.

Ortega has also been accused by human rights organizations of overseeing numerous human rights violations during his time as president. In 2018, Nicaraguan authorities led a brutal crackdown against massive anti-government protests, leaving more than 300 people dead. Last year, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights published a report detailing the crimes committed by Nicaraguan authorities associated with Ortega’s regime, including persecution of civil society and the media, arbitrary detentions, torture, and extrajudicial killings.

On Wednesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk condemned Ortega’s decision to suspend elections. “These latest developments further deepen the severe restrictions on fundamental freedoms, the dismantling of civic space, and the steady erosion of the rule of law,” he said. The High Commissioner also called for the release of individuals who have been arbitrarily detained.

If Ortega keeps his promise to permanently ban elections in Nicaragua, it could allow him and his government to further entrench themselves in power and escalate their repressive regime. 

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Glossary

• Arbitrary detention: the arrest and deprivation of liberty of a person outside of the confines of nationally recognized laws or international standards.

• Authoritarianism: in politics and government, the blind submission to authority and the repression of individual freedom of thought and action. Authoritarian regimes are systems of government that have no established mechanism for the transfer of executive power and do not afford their citizens civil liberties or political rights.

• Civil society: the collective of non-governmental organizations, community groups, and associations that operate independently of the state and the market.

• Consolidation: to make firm or secure.

• Dictatorial: of, relating to, or befitting a dictator (one ruling in an absolute and often oppressive way).

• Dissent: political opposition to a government or its policies.

• Entrench: to place in a position of strength; establish firmly or solidly.

• Extrajudicial killing: when someone in an official position deliberately kills a person without any legal process.

• Yankees: a native or inhabitant of the United States.