Nicaragua approves law limiting opposition participation in elections

The amendment extends the presidential term from six to seven years and excludes anyone deemed to have participated in a “coup attempt or treason” or called for “military intervention.”

According to Speaker Gustavo Porras, the measure was approved unanimously.

President Daniel Ortega, together with his wife Rosario Murillo, has ruled the country alternately since 1979, but uninterruptedly since 2007.

Since coming to power, he has crushed the country's political opposition and rewritten the constitution. As recently as January last year, he and Rosario Murillo were given control of the entire state apparatus through an amendment to the constitution.