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Election Profile:

Flag of Nicaragua Source for election date

At stake in this election:

  • 90 seats in the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional)

Description of government structure:

  • Chief of State: President Enrique BOLANOS Geyer *
  • Head of Government: President Enrique BOLANOS Geyer
  • Assembly: Nicaragua has a unicameral National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) with 92 seats.

* The president is both the chief of state and head of government. In order to avoid a run-off, a candidate must obtain 40 percent of the vote or 35 percent conditioned on the fact that s/he has at least a 5-point lead over the nearest rival.

Description of electoral system:

  • The President is elected by plurality vote to serve a 5-year term.
  • In the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) 90 members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.***

*** One seat is reserved for the previous president and one seat for the runner-up in previous presidential election.

Main parties in the electoral race:

  • Party: Sandinista National Liberation Front / Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN)
    Leader: Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra
    Seats won in this election: 38
    Seats won in last election: 37
  • Party: Liberal Constitutionalist Party / Partido Liberal Constitucionalista (PLC)
    Leader: Jorge CASTILLO Quant
    Seats won in this election: 25
    Seats won in last election: 52
  • Alliance: Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance - Conservative Party / Alianza Liberal Nicaragüense - Partido Conservador (ALN-PC)***
    Leader: Eduardo MONTEALEGRE Rivas
    Seats won in this election: 22
    Seats won in last election: N/A
  • Party: Sandinista Renewal Movement / Movimiento Renovador Sandinista (MRS)
    Leader: Dora Maria TELLEZ
    Seats won in this election: 5
    Seats won in last election: N/A
  • Party: Alternative for Change / Alternativa por El Cambio (AC)
    Leader: Orlando TARDENCILLA Espinoza
    Seats won in this election: 0
    Seats won in last election: 0

*** The Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN), which includes the Conservative Party (Partido Conservador - PC), is also known by the acronym ALN-PC.

Last Legislative election:

  • Legislative elections were last held on 4 November 2001.

Population and number of registered voters:

  • Population: 5,570,129 (July 2006 )
  • Registered Voters: 3,665,141 (October 2006 )

Last Updated on 02/14/2006

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