MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) – Nicaragua’s top electoral authority decimated the country’s political opposition on Friday by unseating practically all of its remaining lawmakers in congress as President Daniel Ortega prepares to seek a third term.
The Supreme Electoral Council ousted 16 opposition legislators from the Liberal Independent Party and its ally the Sandinista Renovation Movement Friday for not recognizing their officially sanctioned leader. That leader, Pedro Reyes, had recently been given that authority by the Supreme Court, which removed the opposition party’s previous leader following a long-running political dispute. Reyes is seen by some within his own party as a tool of Ortega.
The 16 legislators removed from their seats supported the party’s former leader Eduardo Montealegre and refused to recognize Reyes, who said the vacant seats will be filled by party members who recognize him.
Carlos Langrand, one of the ousted lawmakers, said through his Twitter account: “We have been unseated for not lowering our heads before the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega.”
Nicaragua is scheduled to hold elections Nov. 6.