Sandinistas Celebrate
Daniel Ortega, the former leftist revolutionary and opponent of the US, is on course to become the President of Nicaragua for the second time, according to early results from Sunday's election.

Returns from 14.7 per cent of polling stations showed  Ortega with 40.04 per cent of the vote and a lead of just under seven points from his nearest rival, the Washington-backed banker, Eduardo Montealegre.

According to Nicaragua's election rules, Ortega will win the presidency outright if he holds on to 40 per cent of the vote or maintains 35 per cent and a lead of five points over the second-placed candidate. Should his lead narrow, a run-off vote will be required.

The run off election would be held in 45 days, on December 17 and the winner will take office on January 10, 2007.

News of Ortega's lead prompted noisy celebrations among supporters of his Sandinista party in Managua. Fireworks and red and black flags filled the streets, as Sandinistas partied all nihht.

But Montealegre refused to concede a convincing lead to Ortega, insisting that a second round of voting will be necessary. "No one has won here. The Nicaraguan people, in a run-off, will determine the next president," he said.

The choice between Ortega, the former guerrilla who ruled Nicaragua as a leftist President from 1984 to 1990, and Montealegre, a conservative, Harvard-educated banker, represents a fork in the road for one of Latin America's poorest countries, which relies heavily on American aid.

Ortega has promised to maintain Nicaragua's membership of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which has delivered millions of dollars in foreign investment in recent years.

But his close friendship with leftist figures such as Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and outright antagonist of America during the Sandinista uprising and the subsequent war between his government and the Washington-backed Contra rebels makes him a decided foe of the US.

Last night, the American Embassy in Nicaragua issued a statement saying: "We are receiving reports of some anomalies in the electoral process, including the late opening of (polling places), the slowness of the voting process, and the premature closing of some (polling places)."

Roberto Rivas, president of the Supreme Electoral Council, overseeing the elections, responded angrily: "We have promised the Nicaraguan people transparent elections, and that’s what we’ve done. I think there were enough observers to witness that."

Ortega, 60, is yet to make a comment on the early results, which place him firmly ahead of Montealegre's Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance, which broke away from the ruling Constitutionalist Liberal Party, which has been tainted by corruption scandals.

Yesterday, as he voted amid intense press coverage, he only said that he was confident that there would be no need for a run-off. "Nicaragua wins today," he said.