In Nicaragua, President Ortega bans elections – a new page in the authoritarian playbook

Since being elected for a second term as Nicaraguan president in 2006, Daniel Ortega – the former Sandinista freedom fighter-turned-authoritarian leader – has extended his term of office several times. But last week he announced a new strategy for holding on to power.

He declared that there will no longer be elections in the Central American country. Making a speech to commemorate the anniversary of the 1979 revolution that toppled the Somoza dictatorship which had ruled Nicaragua since 1937, he said: “The days when parties backed by the Yankees and the Somocistas would return to power are over – never again.” The legal changes are already moving through the country’s legislature.

Nicaragua’s elections have long been rigged and repressive. But this marks a new scale of authoritarian rule. The elimination of elections is a rare and extreme case, even in today’s landscape of authoritarian regimes. So this reflects a worrying trend of brazenness on the part of Nicaragua’s president.

Spin dictators

Most modern autocrats are what researchers call “spin dictators”. They invest in a democratic disguise and the careful curation of a public image fostered by propaganda and misinformation. Elections play a central role in this playbook.

Hence, most authoritarian regimes nowadays hold somewhat competitive multiparty elections – and only a handful of regimes have resisted the turn...

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