Nicaraguan opposition pushes ahead with new constitution
Nicaragua's main opposition leader said Thursday that they would table a bill in Congress next month for a new constitution in a fresh bid to counter the government in months of political standoff.

Daniel Ortega, who heads the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), said the bill could be introduced on July 1 with the aim to draft a new constitution which contains rules governing the presidential elections.

"What we need is a democratic system to empower the Nicaraguan people in decision making," Ortega said.

The new constitution would empower the people to sack government officials if they failed to fulfill duties, he said.

The FSLN would formally unveil the bill next Wednesday in a national dialogue to be joined by another opposition party, the Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC), according to Ortega. The government is not expected to participate and it wants an "extensive dialogue" with the participation of the civil society and the Organization of American States (OAS) as mediator.

The FSLN and the PLC are allied in Congress in a political confrontation against President Enrique Bolanos.

The political duel began late last year when the opposition-led National Assembly revised the constitution, stipulating that the Congress has the final say over the appointment of cabinet members and ambassadors accredited to foreign countries.

Bolanos and his government rejected the revision, citing a ruling by the Central American Court of Justice which deemed Nicaragua's constitutional reforms inapplicable.

Last Saturday, the FSLN called for early elections as a possible solution to the discord between the executive and legislative powers.

In response, Bolanos said he was prepared to bring forward the national elections to February 2006 from the scheduled November 2006, on condition that all the public officials elected in 2001 resign first.

OAS chief Jose Miguel Insulza arrived in the Central American nation last week on a mission to bring the two sides to talks. Insulza vowed to continue efforts to mediate a deal after his mission failed.