AMLO and the same electoral temptations of the Nicaraguan dictator

Daniel Ortega holds two records, he is the Head of Government (dictator) who has made the most reforms to the Electoral Law of Nicaragua and the President who has “won” the most elections. Both elements seem to be linked to his total control in the Supreme Electoral Council and to the use and abuse of legal devices at his disposal.

Starting in the 1990s, Daniel Ortega tried to be President of Nicaragua on 3 occasions, under the rules of democracy and the rule of law. He never made it. On the contrary, seeing itself cornered by institutional means, the Sandinista party began a strategy to undermine democracy, under a model of social protest called “Governing from below.” The plan included generating instability, coordinating riots and sponsoring all kinds of violent acts, in order to obtain political perks and an ever larger piece of the electoral pie.

For 17 years Ortega was ruling from the shadows, pulling the strings of power, manipulating and extorting legitimately elected governments. In 2006, these outrages gave him the booty he so longed for, through a series of pacts and compromises with the opposition, Ortega returns to power, thanks to an electoral reform tailored to his ambitions, taking control of the arbitrator and establishing a minimum of 35% of votes to win the elections. Thus began the era of the strong man and weak institutions. The Nicaraguan dictatorship.

Note that Ortega “the democrat” said that the electoral reforms were to give more power to the people, greater participation for women, indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants. He never said that he wanted to appoint his wife as vice president, his children as advisers and establish a one-party system a la Cuba or North Korea. He never did.

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AMLO’s temptations

Today that the issue of the “election deniers” (the deniers) is fashionable, I remember that in 2006 President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) made world news for his rejection of the electoral results. There it became evident that his personal agenda and his political ego always seem to be placed above the homeland, the institutional framework and the democratic values ​​of an entire country.

That is why I am not surprised that, in April 2022, President López laid bare his dark and lagging ambitions to reform the National Electoral Institute (INE), under the pretext of creating a more efficient, less expensive and more agile body. Although the proposal seems like a tame lamb, the Mexican people demonstrated this Sunday that they do not believe AMLO and that behind the reforms is a ferocious wolf, perhaps a radical change of paradigm, which threatens to destroy the present and mortgage the democratic future. of a whole country.

The INE is an example for Latin America

The National Electoral Institute is an example for Mexico and Latin America, it is part of an extraordinary collective history in which decades of hegemonic party, corruption and electoral opacity were broken. In Sunday’s march, José Woldenberg, one of the founding fathers of the electoral institution, said it very clearly: “We defend the electoral system that generations of Mexicans built and has allowed plural coexistence and the peaceful transmission of power.”

For his part, President Obrador does not seem to listen to advice and just this Monday in his morning conference he said: “We need to establish an electoral body that really enforces democracy in the country, it is essential.” Hearing him speak, I can’t help but remember my country, Nicaragua, where Daniel Ortega has not only reformed the electoral system, but controls it from the bottom up. It is an efficient model, as in Cuba, the results of the votes are known even days before.

They do not believe me? just two weeks ago we had municipal elections in 153 municipalities of the country and surprise… guess who won?… Daniel Ortega’s party. The FSLN awarded itself 100% of the municipalities, even in those regions where it never campaigned.

I close by remembering that Mexico is not Nicaragua and that AMLO is not Ortega, however, the resemblance is terrifying. That is why I join the voices that say “the INE is not touched and democracy must be defended.” We are still on time.

*The author was the Nicaraguan ambassador to the OAS and a former member of the Norwegian Peace Corps.