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)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 2,761,153 (2006)

·         Is Nicaragua a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Nicaragua ratified CEDAW: Yes (27 October 1981)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 17 (following the 2006 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 125 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Medium (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Nicaragua a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Nicaragua ratified CRPD: Yes (7 December 2007)

·         Population with a disability: 835,519 (est.)