Constitutional

July 24 (UPI) — Nicaragua’s government began the process Friday of reforming the Constitution and the legal framework governing the electoral system, days after President Daniel Ortega said the country “will never again hold elections” that would allow the opposition to return to power.

According to an official statement released by the Government of Reconciliation and National Unity, the proposed constitutional and legal reforms were drafted by the National Assembly’s Constitutional Commission in coordination with the Supreme Electoral Council and will be submitted to the presidency for review and authorization.

Once that stage is completed, the National Assembly will open a consultation process next week on the proposed Partial Reform Law to the Political Constitution before it is debated and put to a vote in the full legislature.

According to the statement, the reforms are part of the “Nicaragua Triumphs in Peace and Unity” plan and are intended to strengthen the constitutional framework to guarantee “peace, well-being, security, stability and the continuity of the achievements of the people as president.”

The announcement came five days after Ortega declared, during the commemoration of the 47th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution’s victory, that Nicaragua “will never again hold elections” so the opposition can “try to take over the government and power,” remarks that drew criticism from the United States, the Organization of American States and opposition organizations.

On Wednesday, National Assembly President Gustavo Porras said Ortega’s remarks did not mean elections would be eliminated, but rather the end of processes that, according to the ruling party, had been influenced by the United States.

“Those elections will never return to this country,” Porras said during a news conference.

“They will be the elections of the Nicaraguan people, national elections to choose our national authorities and our municipal authorities, with the terms established by the Nicaraguan people and with the candidates and conditions established by the Nicaraguan people.”

Porras said the reforms are intended to prevent “the terrible manipulation of the empires and their lackeys” and to guarantee, in his words, “an absolutely clean, transparent and absolutely national election.”

During the same news conference, he said the new legal framework is intended to prevent foreign interests from influencing Nicaragua’s electoral processes and reiterated that “those elections will never return to this country,” referring to what he described as processes controlled by foreign powers.

The National Assembly, controlled by the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front, will be responsible for debating the reforms, which must follow the procedure established for constitutional amendments before taking effect.

The ruling Democratic Party’s (DP) push to put a constitutional change to a national vote in the upcoming local elections fell through Friday as the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) continued to boycott a parliamentary vote on the proposal.

Shortly after Friday’s plenary session opened, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik announced that he will not put the amendment bill to a vote as the PPP warned it would launch a filibuster to block the proposal.

“I convened the plenary session again today in an effort to prevent the first constitutional amendment vote in 39 years from falling through,” Woo said. “But I believe further proceedings would be meaningless, seeing the (PPP) responding with a filibuster.”

The PPP boycotted a vote on the bill Thursday, leaving the unicameral parliament short of a quorum.

Cheong Wa Dae expressed regret over the National Assembly’s failure to pass the bill due to opposition from PPP lawmakers.

“The public will find it difficult to understand why they opposed even minimal constitutional changes aimed at safeguarding national security and democracy,” presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a written briefing, noting that there had been broad public consensus on the need to “reflect the lessons” of former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s Dec. 3, 2024, martial law attempt in the Constitution.

“We urge the National Assembly to continue the discussions on the constitutional amendment with a greater sense of responsibility during the second half and to keep the promise it made to the people,” she added.

President Lee Jae Myung earlier highlighted the need to amend the constitution in “phases” if necessary, saying the Constitution, which has remained unchanged for nearly 40 years since 1987, may now be outdated.

The proposed bill aimed to tighten the rules for declaring martial law, requiring the president to obtain parliamentary approval without delay and stipulating that if the National Assembly rejects the declaration or fails to approve it within 48 hours, the martial law will be immediately nullified.

It also sought to include the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju and the 1979 Busan-Masan pro-democracy protests in the preamble. It currently states that the country inherits the spirit of the April 19 revolution in 1960, which overthrew South Korea’s first president, Rhee Syng-man, over election fraud.

The bill was jointly proposed by 187 lawmakers from the DP and five minor parties.

A constitutional amendment requires two thirds of votes from sitting lawmakers to be put to a national referendum for final approval by a majority of ballots cast.

South Korea is set to hold its quadrennial local elections on June 3.

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