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CENTRAL AMERICA |
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Opposition
Lawmakers Shut Down Nicaragua’s Congress
MANAGUA – The opposition shut down
Nicaragua’s legislature Tuesday to protest a
court ruling that clears the way for
President Daniel Ortega to seek re-election
in 2011.
The 47 opposition members of the 92-seat
assembly showed up for the session but
refused to officially register, denying the
governing Sandinistas a quorum.
The 38 Sandinista lawmakers and their allies
were in the chamber for a total of 42, five
less than the minimum needed to open a
plenary session, Alba Palacios, second
secretary of congress, told Efe.
The opposition bloc, consisting of the
Liberal Party and several small groupings,
told a press conference that they decided
not to sign into the chamber in protest
against the Oct. 19 decision by a Supreme
Court panel.
The high court’s Constitutional Chamber
declared “inapplicable” the article of the
Nicaraguan Constitution that places term
limits on the president, vice president and
mayors while exempting most other elected
officials.
Although it was initially reported that the
ruling had to be confirmed by the full
15-member court, Deputy Chief Justice Rafael
Solis – a member of Ortega’s Sandinista
Party – said Tuesday that “the ruling is an
unappealable judgment, it’s been ruled
upon.”
But Chief Justice Manuel Martinez, allied
with the main opposition Liberals, told
reporters that the ruling was invalid on
procedural grounds.
Complaining of an “ambush,” he said the
three Liberal members of the Constitutional
Chamber were not notified in time to attend
the session and that their places were
filled by three Sandinista substitutes.
The head of the Liberals in congress, Ramon
Gonzalez, told Efe that the opposition also
refused to make up a quorum as a way of
pressuring assembly speaker Rene Nuñez to
accept an “immediate meeting” to discuss a
law that declares null and void the judicial
decision.
In the National Assembly a debate is pending
on the 2010 budget bill and a tax reform
that has been criticized by the opposition
and the business community.
Nuñez has called another plenary session for
Wednesday to try and restart the work of
legislation if a sufficient number of
lawmakers are in attendance.
The controversial court ruling concerns
Article 147 of the Nicaraguan Constitution,
which bars re-election of a sitting
president or vice president and limits a
head of state to a total of two terms.
Ortega, who began his second presidential
term on Jan. 10, 2007, and is due to step
down in January 2011, has been unable to
obtain the 56 votes needed to allow a
constitutional reform in Congress.
In the face of that obstacle, Ortega decided
to pursue a judicial remedy by filing a
motion before the CSE electoral tribunal,
which in turn referred the matter to the
Supreme Court.
Ortega previously governed Nicaragua from
1979-1990, initially as leader of the
Sandinista movement that toppled U.S.-backed
dictator Anastasio Somoza and subsequently
as the country’s elected president. EFE |
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