One of Nicaragua’s dissident wings extends unity proposal to other opposition parties

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Coalición Nacional, one of the main opposition organizations in Nicaragua, on Monday extended a unity proposal to its peer, the Alianza Ciudadana, with the aim of standing as a single force against President Daniel Ortega, who is seeking his third consecutive reelection in next November’s elections.

The Coalición Nacional’s four-point proposal was submitted with a little more than 48 hours left before the deadline for presenting the party alliances before the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE), for the elections to be held on November 7th. The deadline expires on Wednesday.

The Coalición proposed that the Alianza Electoral be represented by “a mutually agreed person whom both parties trust,” who in turn will be joined by a three-person Consultative Committee.

It also proposed that once the alliance is established, the presidential candidates of both opposition groups should participate in an internal election to determine who will be the official candidate for the opposition in the general elections.

Likewise, it established that the parties should divide the number of representatives by 50% each, and that a joint team should be created to design a Government plan.

A Coalición Nacional source said that its members are open to participating in the elections under the Ciudadanos por la Libertad (CxL) ballot, a party which has been criticized by several forces for its apparent rejection of the opposition unity against Ortega, including the exclusion of certain sectors.

Juan Diego Barberena, member of the Coalición’s political council, said that the organization seeks “unity and an electoral alliance without exclusion, under the protection of a previous agreement of opposition organizations, and with the goal that the majority of the Nicaraguan population which is against the Ortega Murillo dictatorship may feel represented.”

Both the members of the Coalición Nacional and of the Alianza Ciudadana have pointed out that the opposition unity is the only option they have to face an alleged “electoral fraud” by the CSE, reported by the opposition as benefiting Ortega in each election since his return in 2007.

The November elections will be decisive for Nicaragua, as 42 years of Ortega’s almost absolute dominance over national politics will be at stake.