FSLN Takes 135 City Halls after Local Elections

Roberto Rivas distributes the rest of the municipalities between PLC, CxL and ALN

Ortega’s party will control the 15 departmental capitals of the country. The indigenous party Yatama loses the three city halls it had previously controlled.

By Wilfredo Miranda | Arlen Cerda  (Confidencial)

HAVANA TIMES – The Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) has awarded 135 of the country’s 153 city halls to the Sandinista Front, after receiving 98.76% of the Voting tabulation sheets from Sunday’s municipal elections.

The ruling party will control the 15 departmental capitals of the country, and the two main cities of the autonomous regions of the Caribbean, Bluefields and Bilwi for a total of 17.

CSE president Roberto Rivas said Monday afternoon that the Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC) won 11 municipalities, Ciudadanos por la Libertad (CxL) 6, and Alianza Liberal Nicaragüense (ALN) 1.

According to the figures of the CSE, the Sandinista Front was the leading political force in the country obtaining 1,326,982 votes (68.23%), followed by the PLC 317,366 (16.33%), and CxL with 185,214 (9.52%).

The controversial Electoral Council said it had processed and recorded the reports from 13,042 polling stations from a total of 13,206. Although the participation registered during these municipal elections was low, Rivas said 51.64% voted nationwide, which he called “normal”.

Of all the political parties that participated, the one that fared worst was YATAMA. The indigenous group lost three city halls that it governed: Bilwi, Waspam and Prinzapolka. Yatama leader Brooklyn Rivera rejected the results and called for protest in those areas. Before his call, the protests had already been registered in two municipalities of the South Caribbean: Corn Island, where there were partially destroyed trucks, stoned houses and several wounded, and the mouth of Rio Grande, where two deaths were recorded.

The PLC won the following municipalities: San José de los Remates, Camoapa, Wiwilí de Jinotega, Antigua City, Mulukuku, Paiwás, El Tortuguero, Santo Domingo, San Pedro de Lovago, La Trinidad, and Muelle de los Bueyes.

While CxL will govern in Boca, Pantasma, Yalí, Murra, El Coral and El Almendro. In Pantasma, the current mayor Oscar Gadea Tinoco was declared elected after a night of tension. The electoral results had not been made known by the Electoral Power, although in the end the mayor for CxL won with 61% versus 34% of the Sandinista Front.

In the municipality of El Cuá, the preliminary count marked victory for CxL, but the certification that the CSE extended to the parties with 99% of the polling place reporting gave the victory to the Sandinista Front, which currently governs it.

Rivas said that the CSE will make no more public announcements and that the missing tally sheets will be processed and published on its website. Wilfredo Penco, head of mission of the Organization of American States (OAS), said that the publication of each tally sheet on the CSE website is a must for a transparent process, noting that so far they haven’t been published in detail.