Nicaragua will hold municipal elections after a "silent campaign", warns the independent observatory Urnas Abiertas

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Opposition denounces threats 6:57

(CNN Spanish) --

The period of proselytizing for next Sunday's municipal elections in Nicaragua is the shortest in recent years and one of the most "silent" in terms of propaganda, according to a report published Monday by the observatory independent Open Polls.

"During the entire campaign period there was a notorious silence, the atmosphere in the municipalities does not point to the approach of a civic party as the elections should be, the streets lack notorious political advertising except for a few posters, rallies or caravans on the streets are non-existent and the few political acts recorded during the last two weekends were not massive, participation was limited to activities that did not exceed a few dozen people," the observatory detailed.

The electoral silence for the elections —where part of the opposition does not participate— began this Wednesday, November 1, after a 20-day campaign, in accordance with what is established in the calendar published by the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) in its newsletters.

In these votes, according to the CSE, the mayors, deputy mayors and members of the Municipal Councils for the 153 municipalities of the country will be elected.

• Supreme Electoral Council of Nicaragua calls for municipal elections in three months

Some of the parties participating in the current municipal elections - considered collaborators by opposition sectors, both in the country and in exile - have expressed that there were restrictions on mobilization for their activities, while the ruling alliance mobilized without obstacles and some mayoral candidates had extensive interviews on government-run television channels.

According to Urnas Abiertas, "in a context where there is no electoral competition, this campaign only serves to justify the millionaire reimbursement of more than 450 million córdobas (about US$12.3 million), which the parties will claim at the end of their participation. in a process without conditions or democratic guarantees"

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The Open Ballot Box report highlights that the electoral reform approved in May 2021 "eliminated the requirement for political parties to achieve at least 4% of the votes to access reimbursement for their alleged expenses."

According to the report, the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and the United Alliance Nicaragua Triunfa closed their campaign over the weekend in various municipalities with vehicle caravans or walks, whose participants called for the ratification of their current mayors.

The FSLN currently heads 135 of the 153 municipalities, to which are added another five that the Citizens for Freedom Party had won in the 2017 elections, whose mayors were dismissed after the Council canceled the status of that political organization. Electoral in 2021 and where the councilors elected new official mayors.

For his part, Alberto Brunori, Representative for Central America and the Caribbean of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), expressed in an opinion article that the current elections could have the same features as those held in 2021, which according to the OAS "were not free, fair or transparent".

According to Brunoni, the decrease in campaign time reduced the time for disseminating proposals with the electorate

"This would be a disadvantage in terms of the general conditions of equality in access to the public function, a right recognized by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights."

•  The European Union criticizes the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, for elections that lack "legitimacy"

Additionally, "the municipal contest will not have the participation of the three political parties that were arbitrarily canceled by the Supreme Electoral Council in 2021. One of them, Ciudadanos por la

Until July, Libertad administered a quarter of the opposition mayoralties.

It is predictable that many candidates willing to serve and contribute to the development of their communities will not participate either, since the imprisonment of seven presidential candidates and other political and social leaders months before the 2021 general elections – today condemned as traitors to the country – It's not exactly an encouragement to run," Brunoni said.

For their part, the Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC) and the Alliance for the Republic (APRE) closed their campaigns in some of the municipalities with small demonstrations, reported Urnas Abiertas.

He added that APRE also put up posters in streets and markets.

The Independent Liberal Party (PLI) managed its campaign on social networks and has shared photographs of activities carried out in La Cruz del Río Grande and Tipitapa, according to the observation body.

According to the CSE Supreme Electoral Council, a total of 3,722,884 Nicaraguans over the age of 16 are eligible to participate in the elections, for which 7,931 polling stations located in 3,106 voting centers will be set up.

On November 6, the voting will take place and the results of the vote will be transmitted to the National Computing Center.

Please review screenshots of the CSE bulletin that support this paragraph in attached photos.

From exile, opposition groups called not to vote, just as they did in the 2021 general elections, in which the president, Daniel Ortega, was re-elected.

According to the calculation of Urnas Abiertas, these elections had an abstention rate of 81.5%, but the CSE —controlled by the ruling party— was 34.74%.

The opposition Blue and White National Unity called Nicaraguan citizens on Tuesday through its Twitter account "to actively reject the new electoral farce of Ortega, closing the doors of our houses and emptying the streets on Sunday, November 6."

Elections