Nicaragua legislature ratifies constitutional reforms granting president control over all state branches News
Fernanda LeMarie - Cancillería del Ecuador, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Nicaragua legislature ratifies constitutional reforms granting president control over all state branches

The Nicaraguan National Assembly on Thursday unanimously ratified the constitutional reforms proposed by current President Daniel Ortega.

Under Article 8 of the country’s new constitution, which now takes effect, President Ortega has effective control over the legislative and judicial branches of government as well as the executive; thereby granting Ortega control over all powers of the state. Additional changes include Article 133, which establishes a president and co-president of Nicaragua, currently Daniel Ortega and his spouse Rosario Murillo. Article 136 further extends both of their terms from five to six years.

The new constitution was originally proposed in November of last year. These reforms have been subject to significant domestic and international criticism. The UN Group of Human Rights Experts voiced grave concerns over the constitutional amendments, which were viewed as granting Ortega unlimited power and undermining democratic governance.

Civic groups within Nicaragua have also criticized the new constitution warning about the closure of civic space and restrictions to freedoms. They expressed concerns regarding human rights violations, especially by the “volunteer police,” which have been accused of attacks against the citizenry..

The new constitution comes amidst what the international community has characterized as an ongoing political crisis in Nicaragua since 2018. Several protests in the spring of 2018 against Ortega’s regime were violently shut down leading to more than 300 people killed and 2000 injured. A separate report from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has documented widespread rights violations in Nicaragua, particularly against government critics. Critics were arbitrarily arrested and subjected to unfair trials, inhumane conditions, and torture, in violation of both international law and the Nicaragua Constitution. Furthermore, religious freedom in Nicaragua has been called into question with the government’s crackdown on the Catholic Church early last year.

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