Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega proposes extending presidential terms to seven years

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has submitted a proposed constitutional reform to the country’s government-controlled National Assembly that would extend presidential terms from six to seven years.

The legislative body is expected to formally approve the changes in September, further cementing the rule of the 80-year-old leader, who has governed the Central American nation continuously since 2007.

The proposed constitutional overhaul also includes explicit provisions to disqualify opposition figures whom the regime labels as “traitors” or “coup plotters” from seeking public office. The move follows previous constitutional amendments passed by the assembly, including the elimination of presidential term limits in 2014 and the extension of terms from five to six years in 2024.

That same year, the legislature formally designated Ortega’s wife and vice-president, Rosario Murillo, as “co-president”, establishing a direct path of succession in the event of Ortega’s permanent absence.

Human rights organisations and international bodies, including the United Nations, continue to raise alarms over the steady dismantling of democratic institutions in Nicaragua. Following anti-government protests in 2018 that resulted in more than 300 deaths at the hands of security forces, the regime carried out widespread arrests ahead of the November 2021 presidential election.

Dozens of potential opposition candidates were detained, forced into exile, or stripped of their Nicaraguan citizenship and property, leaving Ortega to secure re-election without viable political competition.