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U.S. Questions Nicaragua Court Ruling Favoring Ortega

WASHINGTON – The United States said it was “very concerned” over a ruling by a panel of Nicaragua’s Supreme Court that clears the way for President Daniel Ortega to re-election in 2011.

The decision “threatens to undermine the foundations of Nicaraguan democracy and calls into question the Nicaraguan government’s commitment to uphold the Inter-American Democratic Charter,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in a press release.

On Monday, the high court’s Constitutional Chamber declared “inapplicable” the article of the Nicaraguan Constitution that places term limits on the president, vice president and mayors while exempting most other elected officials.

Although it was initially reported that the ruling had to be confirmed by the full 15-member court, Deputy Chief Justice Rafael Solis – a member of Ortega’s Sandinista Party – said Tuesday that “the ruling is an unappealable judgment, it’s been ruled upon.”

But Chief Justice Manuel Martinez, allied with the main opposition Liberals, told reporters that the ruling was invalid on procedural grounds.

Complaining of an “ambush,” he said the three Liberal members of the Constitutional Chamber were not notified in time to attend the session and that their places were filled by three Sandinista substitutes.

“We are very concerned about the manner in which the Constitutional Chamber of the Nicaraguan Supreme Court reached a decision on Oct. 19 regarding re-election for Nicaraguan officials, including the president,” the State Department’s Kelly said.

“We share the concern of many Nicaraguans that this situation is part of a larger pattern of questionable and irregular governmental actions, beginning before the flawed municipal elections of November 2008,” he said.

“Attempts to short circuit constitutional authority, regardless of ideology or country, threaten democratic governance and are of concern to all members of the Organization of American States,” the statement concludes.

The controversial court ruling concerns Article 147 of the Nicaraguan Constitution, which bars re-election of a sitting president or vice president and limits a head of state to a total of two terms.

Ortega, who began his second presidential term on Jan. 10, 2007, and is due to step down in January 2011, has been unable to obtain the 56 votes needed to allow a constitutional reform in Congress.

In the face of that obstacle, Ortega decided to pursue a judicial remedy by filing a motion before the CSE electoral tribunal, which in turn referred the matter to the Supreme Court.

Ortega previously governed Nicaragua from 1979-1990, initially as leader of the Sandinista movement that toppled U.S.-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza and subsequently as the country’s elected president. EFE