Green Left Weekly, Australia
The three main forces in the National Assembly are: President Enrique Bolanos’s centre-right Alliance For The Republic (APRE); the far-right Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC); and the social-democratic Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), which is led by 1980s revolutionary Daniel Ortega. APRE is in a minority in the assembly, while the FSLN has the largest single number of representatives. Bolanos was elected by popular vote.
The November municipal elections revealed a shift in the balance of forces. The PLC, whose leader, former President Arnoldo Aleman, was convicted of corruption and jailed last year, polled very poorly. APRE came a distant third, dashing Bolanos’ hope of building a significant alternative to the FSLN or PLC. The FSLN, however, was the clear winner, sweeping to power in 88 of the 152 municipalities and winning governance of the main towns in 15 of the 17 states. Voter turnout was just 54%.
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