Ortega insists no more elections for Nicaragua

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing Reuters, reported that Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega told supporters the country would stop holding elections, presenting the move as a way to prevent opposition forces from challenging his government. Ortega, 80, made the remarks during a Sunday speech marking the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Sandinista revolution, according to the report published July 20, 2026.

Ortega said elections would not be allowed to provide a route for his opponents to take power, and portrayed those rivals as aligned with the United States and supporters of the former Somoza dictatorship. The statement marks an escalation in his public rejection of political competition in Nicaragua, where his rule has already drawn broad international criticism.

Al Jazeera reported that Ortega has been in power since 2007 after elections that international observers questioned. The 2021 vote was also disputed after authorities detained opposition figures and intensified pressure on dissent. Last year, Nicaragua extended the presidential term to six years and named Ortega’s wife, Rosario Murillo, as co-president.

The article noted that the UN Human Rights Council has accused Ortega and Murillo’s government of operating a repressive system involving arbitrary detention, torture, extrajudicial executions, and persecution of civil society and media. Ortega also faced widespread condemnation after more than 300 people were killed during the 2018 crackdown on anti-government protests. The development matters because it signals a possible formal end to electoral contestation in a country where many critics, activists and former Sandinista allies have already been jailed, exiled or stripped of citizenship.