Saturday 22 November
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
Sandinistas Celebrate
Triumph
Panama Probes Colombian
DMG
Election Campaign
Over, Venezuelans Thoughtful
Brazil Recalls
Ambassador in Ecuador
for Disputed Debt
Paraguay Reports 2nd
Cross-Border Raid by
Brazilian Troops
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Sandinistas Celebrate
Triumph
Managua - Supporters of
governing Sandinista
National Liberation
Front (FSLN) will
celebrate on Friday at
the Revolution Square
the official
confirmation of its
triumph in Managua and
other 104 Nicaraguan
municipalities.
The call to celebrate
victory was made
yesterday night before
thousands of Sandinistas
who were outside the
Supreme Electoral Court
(CSE) headquarters,
waiting for final
results of the polls,
held in 146 councils on
November 9.
The festivities,
expected to be attended
by President Daniel
Ortega, will start at
16:00 local time (22:00
UTC).
According to final
results, the country's
main opposition force,
the Liberal
Constitutionalist Party,
won in 37
municipalities, while
minority Nicaraguan
Liberal Alliance will
rule in four.
Of the 105 councils won
by the Sandinistas, 13
belong to administrative
centers, with PLC
winning only three.
In seven municipalities
of the Autonomous North
Atlantic Region,
elections were postponed
for January due to
damages caused by
Hurricane Felix in
September 2007.
Final CSE results,
however, are not
recognized by the PLC,
which claims a mass
fraud and demands a
revision of every single
vote-count minute of the
country's 11,808 polling
stations.
Though the procedure is
not provided for in the
electoral law, the
magistrates agreed to
recount votes in
Managua, but the
Liberals refused to send
their attorneys.
The revision, made in
the presence of
representatives of the
four remaining political
parties, confirmed the
victory of Sandinista
Alexis Arguello over PLC
candidate Eduardo
Montealegre.
The Liberals' refusal to
accept the results has
led to clashes with the
Sandinistas in Managua
and other cities, which
resulted in over twenty
people wounded and heavy
damages.
PLC also announced that
it will seek the
elections' annulment
through the National
Assembly, but CSE Chair
Roberto Rivas said the
unicameral Parliament
has no jurisdiction to
legislate on the
electoral power.
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