Following the controversial re-election of President Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, there have massively violent clashes between his supporters and opponents throughout the country, which have even resulted in four people being shot dead in the northern part of the country, as reported by the police.

Opposition candidate – Fabio Gadea – has declared the resultof this election as fraud. Though official results have given the ruling Sandinista party a majority with almost 63% vote whereas the opposition Liberal Independent party a 31% vote.

The election observers of the European Union have questioned the transparency of this vote with the head of head of the EU mission Luis Yanez-Barnuevo stating that ‘There is no doubt Mr Ortega and the Sandinistas won the elections, But I am not saying that they won cleanly and transparently, because we don’t know what would have happened without all these tricks and ruses.

In the post-election violence  which happened in two northern towns, three opposition supporters were shot dead in the town of San Jose de Cusmapa near the border with Honduras, while a Sandinista activist was killed in Siuna on the Atlantic coast. Also, reported clashes happened between the government and the opposition supporters in the capital city, Managua.

As claimed by the police, also forty six officers have been injured in the due course of handling the post-election violence across the country.

President Ortega has urged the opponents to accept their defeat. He was able to stand for re-election after the Sandinista-controlled Supreme Court recently overturned a ban on serving consecutive terms in the top office, a move the opposition condemned as illegal. He previously ruled Nicaragua for 11 years after leading the Sandinista revolution that overthrew dictator  Anastasio Somoza in 1979.

He returned to power in elections in 2006 after three failed attempts.

However, in 1984 when he was democratically elected the president of the country for the first time, then also he was alleged of electoral malpractices by his opponents though most international observers recognised the vote as generally free and fair.

Violence spreading in Nicaragua following election results

Report by Indrani Chowdury