Nicaragua - Government
The 1987 Sandinista-era constitution was amended in 1995 to provide for a more even distribution of power among the four branches of government and again in 2000 to increase the size of the Supreme Court and the Controller General's Office and to make changes to the electoral laws. The changes in 2000 allowed for the president to be elected with 35% of the popular vote so long as there was at least a five percentage point difference between the first and second place candidates in order to avoid a second round of voting.
Branches are Executive--president and vice president. Legislative--National Assembly (unicameral). Judicial--Supreme Court and subordinate appeals, district, and local courts, as well as separate labor and administrative tribunals. Electoral--Supreme Electoral Council, responsible for organizing and holding elections. There are 15 departments and two autonomous regions on the Atlantic coast; 153 municipalities.
Nicaragua is a constitutional republic with an executive branch that has exerted increasing control over the legislative, judicial, and electoral branches of government. In 1995, the executive and legislative branches negotiated a reform of the 1987 Sandinista constitution, which gave extensive new powers and independence to the legislature--the National Assembly--including permitting the Assembly to override a presidential veto with a simple majority vote and eliminating the president's ability to pocket-veto a bill.
The 1995 reforms to the 1987 Constitution established a more equal distribution of power and authority among the four coequal branches of government. The executive branch is headed by the President and a cabinet appointed by the President, who is both head of state and head of government, as well as supreme chief of the defense and security forces. The Vice President has no constitutionally mandated duties or powers. Both the President and Vice President are elected to 5-year terms by direct popular vote, with the possibility of a runoff election between the top two candidates if one does not obtain at least 45 percent of the vote on the first ballot. The Constitution did not permit reelection of the President.
The 1987 Constitution stipulates that citizens have the right to "accurate information," thereby providing an exception by which the freedom to publish information that the Government deems inaccurate could be abridged. Although the right to information cannot be subject to censorship, there is retroactive liability established by law, defined as a "social responsibility," implying the potential for sanctions against irresponsibility by the press. Although the legislature did not modify these provisions in the 1995 constitutional reforms, the Government has not invoked these provisions to suppress the media.
On 10 December 1999, the National Assembly voted to approve a package of proposed constitutional amendments supported by the leadership of both the governing Liberal Constitutionalist Party and the opposition FSLN. The proposed amendments require a second favorable vote in the subsequent National Assembly session, scheduled to begin in January 2000, in order to take effect. Key elements of the legislation include a change in the requirements that a presidential candidate must meet to avoid a second-round runoff election; expansion of the Supreme Court from 12 to 16 judges; expansion of the CSE from 5 to 7 magistrates; an automatic assembly seat for the outgoing President and Vice President; a requirement for a two-thirds majority vote in the Assembly, rather than the current "qualified majority" vote, to remove presidential immunity from prosecution; and the replacement of the current single Controller with a 5-person collegial body. The proposed amendments provide for election of the President and the Vice President in the first round of voting if one political party wins at least 40 percent of the vote, or if one party wins at least 35 percent of the vote and the party in second place is more than 5 percentage points behind the front-runner. In addition, a party would lose its legal status if it obtained less than 4 percent of the vote in a general election. The latter provision, if enacted, was expected greatly to reduce the number of parties eligible to field candidates in general elections; over 20 parties ran candidates in the 1996 elections.
Because of political disputes with the president, PLC and FSLN deputies in the National Assembly enacted several constitutional changes during 2005 that transferred many presidential powers to the assembly, including control over property restitution, appointment and removal of ambassadors and government ministers, and control of public utilities and the state social security institute. The Bolanos government regarded most of these reforms as unconstitutional and refused to recognize them. In January 2005 the Central American Court of Justice declared the reforms an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers mandated by the constitution. In October 2005 based on discussions with the OAS and foreign governments, the National Assembly passed a framework law specifying that the constitutional reforms to strip powers from the presidency would not take effect until a new National Assembly and presidential administration took office in January 2007 and had the opportunity to accept or reject the reforms.
Ortega had been in power since 2007, and was able to get a constitutional reform passed in 2014 that eliminated presidential term limits.
Nicaragua's constitution guaranteed freedom of speech, peaceful assembly and association, religion, and movement within the country, as well as foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation. In the run-up to the November 2011 presidential and legislative elections the government made attempts to limit some of these rights, including limiting free and open discussion in the media and academia, electoral observation by credible domestic and international organizations, and the right to peaceful assembly. The constitution prohibits discrimination based on birth, nationality, political belief, race, gender, language, religion, opinion, national origin, and economic or social condition.
All public and private sector workers, except the military, public safety workers, and police, are entitled to form and join unions of their own choosing. Most of Nicaragua’s labor force is involved in the informal service and agricultural sectors and the majority of workers in these sectors are not unionized. However, the formal manufacturing and government/public sectors are heavily unionized. Workers have the right to strike. Collective bargaining is becoming more common in the private sector.
The president and the members of the unicameral National Assembly are elected to concurrent 5-year terms. The National Assembly consists of 92 total deputies (90 elected from party lists drawn at the regional and national levels, plus the outgoing president and the second-place finisher in the most recent presidential election).
The Supreme Court supervises the functioning of the still largely ineffective, often partisan, and overburdened judicial system. In 2000, the Ortega-Aleman pact orchestrated expansion of the Supreme Court from 12 to 16 justices. The National Assembly elects Supreme Court justices to staggered 5-year terms. Led by a council of seven magistrates, the Supreme Electoral Council is the co-equal branch of government responsible for organizing and conducting elections, plebiscites, and referendums. The National Assembly elects the CSE magistrates and their alternates to 5-year terms. A 2000 constitutional amendment expanded the number of CSE magistrates from five to seven and gave the PLC and the FSLN a freer hand to name party activists to the Council, prompting allegations that both parties were politicizing electoral institutions and processes and excluding smaller political parties.
The constitution provides the Assembly with sole power to elect Supreme Court judges, CSE magistrates, and other national level public officials. However, in January 2010 President Ortega issued a decree that indefinitely extended the terms of these incumbent officials. As a result, as of May 2010 about two dozen of these officials remained in their positions despite the fact that their terms had expired, including several Supreme Court judges. After Liberal judges boycotted the Supreme Court for several months, Ortega replaced them in August 2010 with five Sandinista and two Liberal justices.
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