Nicaragua: New Electoral Law Eliminates Plebiscites and Referendums
Electoral Law Nullifies Citizens’ “Political Participation” in Nicaragua’s Decisions, Warns Urnas Abiertas Observatory
HAVANA TIMES – The new Electoral Law has eliminated the legal mechanisms of popular consultation that were still available to Nicaraguans: the plebiscite and the referendum. With this measure, the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has almost completely nullified citizens’ “political participation” in the country’s decisions, according to a recent report by the Urnas Abiertas citizen observatory.
The legislation—which came into force on March 10, 2025—completely removed Title IX of the previous Electoral Law, which dedicated a “single chapter” to the plebiscite and the referendum, subjects that were regulated in six articles.
Article 125 of the previous Electoral Law defined the “plebiscite” as a form of “direct consultation” through which the people could express their opinion on major decisions issued by the Executive Branch.
Meanwhile, Article 126 referred to the “referendum” as an act through which the approval or rejection of ordinary or constitutional laws or reforms could be “directly submitted” to the citizens.
According to Article 127 of the previous law, the initiative to call a plebiscite could come from the president or at least 50,000 citizens. In turn, Article 128 established that a referendum could be requested by one-third of the legislators or the same number of citizen signatures.
Citizens Excluded Under the New Electoral Law
Article 129 of old law granted the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) the power to establish the political campaign schedule and determine the voting date following the approval of the legislative decree, whichever the case.
Lastly, Article 130 stated that any of these mechanisms would be approved according to the option that received the “majority of valid votes.”
In the new Electoral Law, approved on March 6, 2025, by the National Assembly, the six above articles were eliminated, “removing any mechanism for direct consultation with the citizens,” according to the Urnas Abiertas report, which analyzes the new electoral legislation.
“Political participation is now restricted to a model of representative democracy controlled by the regime, without the possibility for the population to intervene in fundamental decisions,” details the Urnas Abiertas report, published on March 14, 2025.
New Constitution Strengthens Rosario Murillo’s Control
The elimination of these popular consultation mechanisms contradicts what the dictatorship states in the introduction of the new electoral law, whose supposed purpose is to “guarantee the effective exercise of the people’s power.”
Article 2 of the Murillo’s Constitution states that “national sovereignty resides in the people, who exercise their role through direct democracy instruments.” However, the electoral reform contradicts the regime’s rhetoric by eliminating the plebiscite and referendum.
“Far from direct democracy, what is being imposed is the absolute centralization of power in the figures of the two co-presidents,” argues Urnas Abiertas.
Although, as far as records show, Nicaragua has never approved or implemented a plebiscite or referendum as a mechanism for direct popular consultation on significant political or constitutional decisions, the dictatorship continues to strip citizens of their rights.
In 2018, the Movimiento por Nicaragua and Hagamos Democracia presented a proposal called the “Route to Overcoming the Political Crisis in the Country,” which suggested consulting the people via plebiscite to determine whether they wanted the presidential couple to remain in power.
Electoral Law Eliminates 45 Articles
The new legislative document introduced 22 new provisions and modified 61% of the articles of the previous Electoral Law, according to Urnas Abiertas. Additionally, it eliminated 45 articles of the previous electoral legislation, including:
- Eliminates the right to vote for all Nicaraguans, including those residing abroad.
- Removes the mechanism to a hearing for a political party whose legal status is at risk of suspension or cancellation.
- Cancels the state’s obligation to provide funding to parties represented in parliament.
- Eliminates the provision allowing political parties to receive tax-exempt private donations.
- Withdraws the requirement that a party must obtain at least 4% of valid votes in national elections to retain its legal status.
According to Urnas Abiertas, besides “subjecting political parties to the rules imposed by the regime,” the changes in the Electoral Law suggest that the “model being consolidated is that of a hegemonic party,” in which the Sandinista Front will maintain “privileges and advantages” over other political organizations.
The 2021 general elections, the 2022 municipal elections, and the 2024 regional elections demonstrated that political and electoral rights in the country “are not exercised freely,” the report concludes.
The newly approved text regulates the election of a presidency composed of two co-presidents, who coordinate all other “organs” of the State, according to the Constitution. Additionally, the terms for elected positions have been extended to six years.
First published in Spanish by Confidencial and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.