Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega on Wednesday proposed a constitutional reform that would officially make him and his wife, current Vice President Rosario Murillo, copresidents of the Central American nation. While the initiative has to pass through the country's legislature to take effect, Ortega and Murillo's Sandinista party control the congress and all government institutions, so it is likely to be approved. The proposal also looks to expand the presidential term to six years from five, the AP reports. Ortega put forward another bill Wednesday that would make it illegal for anyone to enforce sanctions from the US or other foreign bodies "within Nicaraguan territory."
The proposals come during a ongoing crackdown by the Ortega government since mass social protests in 2018 that the government violently repressed. Nicaragua's government has imprisoned adversaries, religious leaders, journalists, and others, then exiled them, stripping hundreds of their Nicaraguan citizenship and possessions. Since 2018, it has shuttered more than 5,000 organizations, largely religious, and forced thousands to flee the country. Dissident groups including the Nicaraguan University Alliance quickly railed against the measures, calling them an extension of that clampdown, per the AP.
"They are institutionalizing nepotism and repression, destroying the rule of law. Democracy faces its greatest threat," the organization wrote on the social media platform X on Wednesday. Manuel Orozco, director of the migration, remittances, and development program at the Inter-American Dialogue, called Ortega's proposals "nothing but a rubber stamping formalization of a decision to guarantee presidential succession" for Murillo and their family. Ortega has referred to Murillo previously in recent years as his copresident. Orozco said the constitutional reform to the presidency is part of a long-term plan for the administration to stay in power.
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