2011年11月7日星期一

Ortega heads for re-election in Nicaragua

Daniel Ortega,Buy christian art Wholesale Solid Color Glaze Tiles For Countertops From China Manufacturers online Nicaragua’s former Marxist guerrilla leader, was heading on Monday for a second consecutive term in office after taking a huge early lead in Sunday’s presidential election.We offer Wholesale Magic Tile For Kitchen,landscape oil painting

With just under 40 per cent of the votes counted, Mr Ortega and his leftwing Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) had an overwhelming 64 per cent of the vote – well ahead of the 40 per cent needed to claim victory.

His two closest rivals, Fabio Gadea, a 79-year-old radio journalist running for a coalition of opposition parties, and Arnoldo Alemán, a disgraced former president sentenced in 2003 for money laundering, were far behind.

The FSLN also appeared to be on the verge of an emphatic victory in elections to replace the country’s 92 national deputies, with more than 63 per cent of the total in early counting. That margin would hand Mr Ortega the qualified majority he and his party need to introduce constitutional changes.

If confirmed, the results would herald a third presidential term for Mr Ortega and cement his political power.

“This is the victory of Christianity, socialism and solidarity,” Rosario Murillo, Mr Ortega’s wife and spokeswoman, said in a radio interview, echoing the FSLN’s campaign slogan.

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As the day unfolded in Nicaragua, some election observers noted irregularities in several parts of the country. Dante Caputo, who heads a team sent by the Organisation of American States, said that observers were denied access to 10 out of 52 polling stations they had selected in a sample.

Their complaints will fuel concerns about the transparency and fairness of the electoral process.

Mr Ortega ran in the contest only after appealing to Nicaragua’s electoral council and the supreme court in order to sidestep a constitutional ban on sitting presidents attempting re-election.

Critics accuse Mr Ortega, 65, of hollowing out the country’s democratic institutions and concentrating power at the presidential and executive levels. They say his interest in democracy is at best passing.

Yet US officials say he has been a useful ally in the fight against drugs. Local business leaders also say their relationship with the government has been “constructive and fluid”.

Under Mr Ortega’s brand of socialism, foreign trade and foreign direct investment have more than doubled in the past five years. During the first half of the year, the economy showed a growth rate of more than 5 per cent – one of the highest in Latin America.

Even so, his detractors eye warily Mr Ortega’s friendship with Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s socialist president. Mr Ortega receives from Venezuela an estimated $500m a year – equivalent to about 7 per cent of gross domestic product – which he uses for poverty-alleviation programmes.

Some economists criticise what they see as populist handouts. But the programmes have won Mr Ortega overwhelming support from Nicaragua’s poor.

Alfredo Espinosa, a resident of Rafael Angel Río, a poor area of Managua, took possession this week of 10 new zinc tiles to refit his dilapidated house made partially from cardboard and plastic sheets.

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