Daniel Ortega’s party has “taken over” five opposition municipalities in Nicaragua and replaced their mayors with pro-government ones

Five mayors in the hands of the Nicaraguan opposition have been “taken arbitrarily” by the councilors of the party of President Daniel Ortega, who appointed the new pro-government mayors, he denounced the injured, when there are four months to the municipal elections.

These are municipalities led by the authorities of the opposition party Ciudadanos por la Libertad (CxL, right), which the government withdrew their legal status in 2021a situation that was exploited by the advisers of the former Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) guerilla in power.

The occupied municipal governments belong to the municipalities of El Cuá, San Sebastián de Yali and Santa María de Pantasma, jurisdiction of Jinotega (north); in addition to Murra, in the department of Nueva Segovia (north); and El Almendro, in Río San Juan (south). So far there is no official statement.

“The mayor’s offices are taken and the FSLN councilors already have their own mayor and deputy mayor. The allegations were shared among them. the ousted mayor of San Sebastián de Yalí, Noel Moreno, told AFP.

The measurement was carried out on the charge that “We do not have a party or a legal status”Moreno said.

Likewise, the headquarters of the mayor’s office in Pantasma, another Jinotega municipality traditionally opposed to the ruling Sandinista Front, was occupied Saturday by police. as reported by the mayor Oscar Gadea Tinoco, a member of CxL.

“All lawfully elected mayors under the Citizens for Freedom banner have been taken over by the regime,” Monterrey said on his Twitter account, while asking President Daniel Ortega to “respect the physical integrity” of the removed officials and mayors.

Excuses

The taking of the mayors took place between Saturday and Monday with the deployment of riot forces under the command of FSLN political leaders, who hoisted that group’s flag in the occupied premises, according to the complainants.

“Four months before the municipal elections [6 de noviembre] the regime arbitrarily takes four mayors opponents who were in the hands of the Citizens for Freedom party (CxL-right) “, denounced the election observation body Open Ballot Boxes.

From exile, CxL president Kitty Monterrey, “I strongly condemn” the occupation of local governments and called for “respect for their physical integrity”.

In 2017 the CxL won the elections in five of the 18 municipalities in the hands of the opposition, while 135 went to the FSLN.

Disabled

In August 2021, CxL, who led an opposition alliance to compete with Ortega in the general election, he was disqualified by the electoral court. The candidates for that group were prisoners.

Ortega, in power since 2007he was re-elected in November for the fourth consecutive term with most of his rivals imprisoned or exiled, amid questioning and international sanctions.

Monterrey felt that the government “is confirming that it has no interest in rehabilitating the electoral path” which it ensures “is still essential for Nicaragua’s exit from this profound crisis”.

In the election campaign ahead of last November’s general election, when he was re-elected for a fourth consecutive term, Ortega jailed seven opposition presidential candidates, who are still being held along with more than 180 prisoners of conscience, according to the data. from the opposition.

Source: AFP and AP

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