AMERICA/NICARAGUA - The President rejects international observers in the elections, the Bishops are critical

Granada (Agenzia Fides) - "Shameless observers. Your observation has finished here, now you can go and observe other countries": with these words, Nicaraguan President Ortega, in his speech at the Congress of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) delivered on 4 June, put an end to the request of the population, private enterprises and opposition parties, of having the presence of international observers at the presidential elections on November 6, 2016.
The spokesman of the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua (CEN), His Exc. Mgr. Jorge Solorzano, Bishop of Granada, said that one must pay attention and have "great care" of the electoral process in the Country. "We cannot continue to trample democracy or lose the trust of the people", he reiterated. "In Nicaragua everyone has to exercise the right to participate in elections, we cannot remain indifferent, lazy or put peace at risk" said Mgr. Solorzano talking to the local press. "The government and the Supreme Electoral Council are expected to give guarantees so that one can live a democratic day, and this includes international observation" concluded the Bishop in the statement sent to Fides.
On 21 May, the Bishops had renewed to the President their commitment to ensuring a transparent electoral process. The letter delivered by the Episcopal Conference two years ago under the title "En Búsqueda de Nuevos Horizontes, para una mejor Nicaragua" (In search of new horizons for a better Nicaragua, see Fides 22/05/2014), has not yet been answered ( see Fides 21/05/2016). (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 07/06/2016)

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