Nicaragua’s government-controlled National Assembly is debating measures that could prevent opposition parties from contesting future elections, with a vote expected in early August. The proposal follows President Daniel Ortega’s declaration that opposition groups would no longer be allowed to use elections to gain power, prompting condemnation from the UN and the United States over Nicaragua’s increasingly authoritarian rule.

Ortega, 80, has governed since 2007 and won the 2021 presidential election after leading opposition candidates were arrested, disqualified or forced into exile. A constitutional reform passed in November 2025 extended presidential terms from five to six years and made his wife, Rosario Murillo, co-president; critics say the latest move could formalise Nicaragua as a one-party state.