Nicaragua's Ortega
Proposes Restructuring
Legislative System
By Eric Sabo
(Bloomberg) --
Nicaraguan President
Daniel Ortega told
legislators the country
would be "among the most
democratic in the
world'' if they adopt a
parliamentary-style
system and fund citizen
groups modeled after
those in Cuba.
The former Marxist
revolutionary, in his
first State of the Union
address, spoke mostly to
Sandinista lawmakers
today after most
opposition politicians
boycotted the event.
"They invited me and
then they disappeared,''
Ortega said at the
National Assembly, on
the one-year anniversary
of the day he took
office. ``That's how
they lie to the
people.''
Ortega said his
proposals for the
legislative system and
increasing funds for
Cuban-inspired groups
known as Councils of
Citizens' Power would
return power to the
people. Three opposition
parties formed a ``bloc
against the dictator''
in November and delayed
approving the 2008
budget, threatening to
paralyze the government
and drag down the
economy.
Ortega, who has derided
the opposition as
``rabid dogs'' for
challenging his
authority, said last
month that he will rule
by decree if lawmakers
don't approve an
increase in funding for
the year.
The standoff over the
budget was meant to
curtail Ortega's use of
the community groups.
Launched on July 19, on
the 27th anniversary of
the Sandinista
revolution, council
volunteers have sold
discounted beans to
counter inflation and
went door to door to
warn of disease
outbreaks following
heavy storms in October.
The Ortega
administration bills the
councils as direct
democracy in action,
allowing citizens to
improve how the
government operates.
Critics claim that the
councils are a throwback
to the Sandinistas of
the 1980s, which used
similar groups to act as
spies for the
revolution.
Ortega said the councils
are part of an effort
for Nicaraguan citizens
to have a greater say in
running the government.
"The people will have
the right to exercise
power,'' Ortega said.
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