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News > Latin America

Nicaragua Set To Negotiate Electoral Reforms With OAS

  • Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, whose removal from office has been called for by certain opposition groups.

    Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, whose removal from office has been called for by certain opposition groups. | Photo: Reuters

Published 2 June 2018
Opinion

A plan will be drafted in November and December, to be implemented in 2019, according to a statement by the Foreign Ministry.

Nicaragua's Foreign Ministry has released a plan to negotiate electoral reforms to "strengthen democratic institutions" with the Organization of American States (OAS).

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"The government of Nicaragua expressed its will to continue working together with the secretary general of the OAS to perfect the Nicaraguan electoral system, strengthening it as an institution; its representative, inclusive, participative and direct democracy to benefit all Nicaraguans," the ministry said in a statement released Friday.

With an initial meeting of authorities scheduled to take place on June 3 to set a plan for the coming months, between July and October experts in electoral law will meet with authorities, political parties and civil society representatives to negotiate reforms. A plan will be drafted in November and December, to be implemented in 2019.

The efforts will also work to update electoral technology in use.

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The negotiations were originally scheduled following recommendations made by the OAS in 2017, and are now being held at a particularly difficult time for Nicaragua, with violent protests by some opposition sectors seeking the immediate removal of the government.

Protests have been ongoing since April. Initially led by students against changes to social security, they have since shifted to calling for the removal of Daniel Ortega's Sandinista government, and have been dominated by violent, armed groups blockading highways and attacking public buildings.

Protests have resulted in numerous deaths and injuries, with extensive damage to both public and private property.

A group of opposition supporters set fire to government buildings in the city of Leon in western Nicaragua on Friday. The German Pomares Complex in Leon, which provides the city's 200,000-plus citizens with social and financial services, was partially destroyed in the blaze. 

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