65.34% of Nicaraguans eligible to vote took part in the elections

With his rivals imprisoned, Daniel Ortega is re-elected with 75% of the vote

AFP PHOTO/PRESIDENCIA - Nicaraguan President and presidential candidate Daniel Ortega (C) with his wife and Vice President Rosario Murillo (R) ready to cast his vote during the general elections, in Managua, Nicaragua on 07 November 2021

EFE

08 de noviembre de 2021 (12:20 h.)

Tags

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega was re-elected for a fifth five-year term and fourth consecutive term with 74.99% of the vote in Sunday's general elections, according to the first report released Monday by the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE).

With seven aspiring opposition presidential candidates in prison on charges of "treason", Ortega, in power since 2007, was in the lead for a new re-election along with his wife, vice-president Rosario Murillo.

With 49.25% of the 13,459 Juntas Receptoras de Votos (JRV) counted, the president has a wide lead over his rivals.

In second place, according to the report read by the president of the CSE, Brenda Rocha, is the candidate of the Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC), Congressman Walter Martínez, with 14.4% of the votes.

He is followed by Guillermo Osorno, also a deputy and reverend, of the Nicaraguan Christian Way (CCN), with 3.44% of the votes.

Meanwhile, Marcelo Montiel, of the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN), obtained 3.27 per cent, Gerson Gutiérrez Gasparín, of the Alliance for the Republic (APRE), 2.20 %, and deputy Mauricio Orué, of the Independent Liberal Party (PLI), 1.70%.

More than 4.4 million Nicaraguans were eligible to elect their president and vice-president, 90 deputies to the National Assembly and 20 to the Central American Parliament (Parlacen).

According to the electoral body, 65.34% of Nicaraguans eligible to vote took part in the elections. However, the independent multidisciplinary observatory Urnas Abiertas put the abstention rate at 81.5 %.

The elections were criticised by various sectors and by the international community for the arrest of seven opposition presidential pre-candidates, as well as for the elimination of three opposition political parties, the repeal of electoral observation and the establishment of laws restricting participation in the process.

The legitimacy of Nicaragua's elections was questioned by opposition groups, human rights organisations, as well as the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the European Union (EU), due to the lack of guarantees of transparency.

Costa Rica announced, after the polling stations closed, that it does not recognise Nicaragua's electoral process due to the "absence of conditions and guarantees" required in a democracy to accredit the elections as transparent, credible, independent, free, fair and inclusive.