Nicaragua Sandinistas
Win in Cities
Managua - The Sandinista
Front of National
Liberation (FSLN) won
106 of 146 mayor offices
in the November 9th
election, according to
the final results made
public today by the
electoral power.
According the Electoral
Supreme Court (CSE), the
Constitutionalist
Liberal Party (PLC) won
in 36 municipalities and
the minority Nicaraguan
Liberal Alliance won in
four.
The results, however,
were not recognized by
PLC, which demands a
recount of the 11,808
voting centers in the
country based on alleged
calls of fraud. The
organizations also asks
for a recount in the
presence of
international observers
and names the Carter
Center, the Organization
of American States
specifically, as well as
two local organisms
which criticize the CSE.
The refusal to accept
their loss has evolved
into violent protests in
different cities of the
country, especially in
Managua, where the
Sandinistas have been
celebrating for days the
victory of their
candidate, former boxer
Alexis Arguello.
An opposition march is
scheduled Tuesday in the
capital, convoked by PLC
candidate, banker
Eduardo Montealegre and
some business sectors,
as well as part of civil
society.
Followers of FSLN
announced that they will
defend their vote out on
the streets and squares
of Managua, where police
keep an eye for new
violence, which has left
various people injured.
In the capital, CSE
agreed to an exceptional
vote recount in presence
of electoral attorneys
of the five parties
involved in the contest.
The PLC, however, denied
to present copies of the
acts under scrutiny,
which they say give
Montealegre the win.
Liberals and opposition
forces have tried to
make the regional
elections into a
presidential referendum
about President Daniel
Ortega’s job in office,
since he returned to
power in January of 2007
after winning the
elections.
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