Printer-friendly version

View PDF version of this page

Political Overview

On November 5, 2006, Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega won election to a five-year term as president with 38 percent of the vote. The 2006 presidential and legislative elections signaled a new phase in the country’s political development when leaders from the left and right challenged the dominance of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) and the Liberal Constitutionalist Party (Partido Liberal Constitucionalista, PLC). Joined together in a tactical alliance known as the Pacto, the FSLN and PLC have worked in recent years to monopolize control of legislative, judicial and electoral structures, weakening democratic institutions. The effect of the Pacto is evident in the low public confidence in the independence of the Supreme Electoral Council (Consejo Supremo Electoral, CSE) and civic demands for electoral reform. Some observers express concern that the continued dominance of the Pacto could lead to political initiatives that would restrict or curtail political space for opposition or independent groups.

NDI Activities

Building on efforts to improve the 2006 electoral process and seizing opportunities to engage the new multiparty legislature, NDI is working to support debate and to build consensus on electoral reforms prior to the next election cycle. NDI has engaged Nicaraguan political actors in the National Assembly as well as electoral experts and civic society organizations toward that end. NDI is also working to assist parties to become more transparent, democratic, and responsive to citizen concerns.

By promoting communication between civil society and political parties, NDI’s support is intended to help generate and channel public demand through the existing institutional mechanisms provided by the political parties, thereby strengthening political party structures and capabilities to represent citizen concerns.

Past NDI Programs

For Nicaragua’s 2006 elections, NDI conducted a comprehensive program to promote citizen participation and a free, fair and transparent electoral process. These efforts included: identifying systemic weaknesses that could prevent citizens from voting; conducting audits of the voter registry; and assessing the processes for producing and distributing national identification cards. NDI’s partners – Ethics and Transparency (Etica y Transparencia, ET), the Institute for Development and Democracy (Instituto para el Desarrollo y la Democracia, IPADE) and the Movement for Nicaragua (Movimiento por Nicaragua, MpN) – also conducted forums and media campaigns to advocate for the CSE to step up efforts to produce and deliver national identification cards and to strengthen existing regulations on election challenges.

On election day, ET conducted a quick count of the presidential race and deployed more than 11,000 nonpartisan volunteer election observers to polling stations in Nicaragua’s 17 departments and 153 municipalities to help detect and deter irregularities and ensure a strong qualitative observation of the elections. ET exceeded expectations by covering 96 percent of all polling stations and determining legislative seat distribution in 11 of the 17 departments in Nicaragua. ET’s observation effort, the most comprehensive election monitoring conducted to date in Nicaragua, provided a constructive avenue for political participation and increased citizen confidence in both the voting process and the final outcome of the presidential vote.

Since 1990, NDI has worked to strengthen democratic institutions and practices in Nicaragua. In 1993, NDI convened an unprecedented public forum on civil-military relations with Nicaragua's key political and military leaders, which led to agreements to change the politically-charged name of the Sandinista army, reform the country’s military legislation and create a civilian-led ministry of defense.

Since 1996, NDI has provided technical assistance to ET, Nicaragua’s first nonpartisan national election observer organization, which has since contributed to raising the standard of elections in the country. During the 2001 elections, ET's quick count, which provided an independent verification of election results, proved instrumental to confirming final results. In 2004, NDI assisted ET in conducting a campaign finance monitoring program for Nicaragua’s municipal elections to help increase transparency and public access to information.

NDI has also assisted political parties. In 2001, NDI trained nearly 450 master party trainers on such issues as election-day procedures, the legal role of party pollwatchers, codes of conduct and the importance of only filing legitimate challenges. The master trainers, representing national and regional parties participating in the elections, in turn trained thousands of party pollwatchers to monitor the more than 9,500 polling stations on election day.

In cooperation with the Central American University (Universidad Centroamericana, UCA) and ET, NDI conducted and published a systematic, nationwide survey in September 2005 that identified Nicaraguans’ concerns regarding the democratic process in their country. The survey included a special focus on the participation of youth, who made up nearly half the electorate in the November 2006 elections. The survey allowed NDI to identify and analyze factors inhibiting or promoting youth participation in political processes to better define pre-election monitoring and advocacy activities.

Contact Information

Printer-friendly version