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Presidential election | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 75.42% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Results by department | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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90 of 96 seats in the National Assembly 46 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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Nicaraguaportal |
General elections were held in Nicaragua on 4 November 1984, to elect a president and parliament. Approximately 1.2 million Nicaraguans voted, [1] representing a 75% turnout, with 94% of eligible voters registered. [2] Impartial observers from international groupings such as the European Economic Community, religious groups sent to monitor the election, and observers from democratic nations such as Canada and Ireland concluded that the elections were generally free and fair. [3] [4]
The election date, 4 November was selected so that Nicaragua would have a legitimate, elected government in place before the anticipated reelection of U.S. president Ronald Reagan on 6 November. "The Sandinistas hoped that a competitive election with heavy turnout would deter a U.S. military intervention and reassure the FSLN's defenders. So the Sandinistas' decision to hold elections in 1984 was largely of foreign inspiration". [5]
Between 1982 and 1984 the FSLN negotiated with the opposition on the proposed Political Parties Law and Electoral Law, and ultimately these were modified "in response to several of the opposition's most significant demands." [6] Similarly, multiple extensions of the deadline for candidate registration were granted whilst talks with the Coordinadora continued. [7]
It has been argued that "probably a key factor in preventing the 1984 elections from establishing liberal democratic rule was the United States' policy toward Nicaragua." [8] The Reagan administration was divided over whether or not the rightwing coalition Coordinadora Democrática Nicaragüense should participate in the elections, which "only complicated the efforts of the Coordinadora to develop a coherent electoral strategy." [8] Ultimately the US administration public and private support for non-participation allowed those members of the Coordinadora who favoured a boycott to gain the upper hand. [8]
A coalition of right-wing parties including the Social Christians, Social Democrats, and the Constitutional Liberal Party, calling itself the 'Democratic Coordinating Committee' (Coordinadora), decided to abstain from the elections on the grounds that the opposition parties had been given insufficient 'guarantees,' and not enough time to prepare for the elections. The Coordinadora's abstentionism was publicly supported by the US government, which hoped to challenge the legitimacy of the November elections by alleging that opposition sectors were not able to participate. But despite US intervention and the Coordinadora abstention seven political parties took part in the November elections. The three center-right/right-wing parties which put forward candidates were the PCDN, PLI, and PPSC. The three opposing left-wing parties were the PSN, PC de N and MAPML." [9]
The Reagan administration denounced the 1984 vote as a 'Soviet-style sham', despite contrary opinions from external observers such as Baron Chitnis, the Latin American Studies Association, [10] and the international press. It escalated its diplomatic and propaganda campaign against the Sandinista government and increased military aid to the Contras. "This undercut the new regime's legitimacy abroad and frustrated its hopes that the 1984 vote might smooth the way at home." [11] May 1985 saw a trade embargo imposed, followed by $27m of "non-lethal" aid to the Contras, supplemented by $37m of secret "lethal" aid. [2] This led to the October 1985 reimposition of a State of Emergency in Nicaragua. [2]
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Daniel Ortega | Sandinista National Liberation Front | 735,967 | 66.97 | |
Clemente Guido Chavez | Democratic Conservative Party | 154,327 | 14.04 | |
Virgilio Godoy Reyes | Independent Liberal Party | 105,560 | 9.61 | |
Mauricio Díaz Dávila | Popular Social Christian Party | 61,199 | 5.57 | |
Allan Zambrana Salmerón | Communist Party of Nicaragua | 16,034 | 1.46 | |
Domingo Sánchez Salgado | Nicaraguan Socialist Party | 14,494 | 1.32 | |
Isidro Téllez Toruño | Marxist–Leninist Popular Action Movement | 11,352 | 1.03 | |
Total | 1,098,933 | 100.00 | ||
Valid votes | 1,098,933 | 93.91 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 71,209 | 6.09 | ||
Total votes | 1,170,142 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 1,551,597 | 75.42 | ||
Source: Nohlen |
All parties except the FSLN were awarded an additional seat for the party's unsuccessful presidential candidate.
Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sandinista National Liberation Front | 729,159 | 66.78 | 61 | |
Democratic Conservative Party | 152,883 | 14.00 | 14 | |
Independent Liberal Party | 105,497 | 9.66 | 9 | |
Popular Social Christian Party | 61,525 | 5.63 | 6 | |
Communist Party of Nicaragua | 16,165 | 1.48 | 2 | |
Nicaraguan Socialist Party | 15,306 | 1.40 | 2 | |
Marxist–Leninist Popular Action Movement | 11,343 | 1.04 | 2 | |
Total | 1,091,878 | 100.00 | 96 | |
Valid votes | 1,091,878 | 93.31 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 78,224 | 6.69 | ||
Total votes | 1,170,102 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 1,551,597 | 75.41 | ||
Source: Nohlen |
José Daniel Ortega Saavedra is a Nicaraguan politician who has been the 58th President of Nicaragua since 2007. Previously he was leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, first as Coordinator of the Junta of National Reconstruction from 1979 to 1985, and then as the 54th President from 1985 to 1990. During his first term, he implemented policies to achieve leftist reforms across Nicaragua. In later years, Ortega's left-wing radical politics cooled significantly, leading him to pursue pro-business policies and even rapprochement with the Catholic Church. However, in 2022, Ortega resumed repression of the Church, and has imprisoned prelate Rolando José Álvarez Lagos.
Nicaragua is a nation in Central America. It is located about midway between Mexico and Colombia, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. Nicaragua ranges from the Caribbean Sea on the nation's east coast, and the Pacific Ocean bordering the west. Nicaragua also possesses a series of islands and cays located in the Caribbean Sea.
The Sandinista National Liberation Front is a left-wing political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto César Sandino, who led the Nicaraguan resistance against the United States occupation of Nicaragua in the 1930s.
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Dora María Téllez Argüello is a Nicaraguan historian known for her involvement in the Nicaraguan Revolution. As a young university medical student in León in the 1970s, Téllez was recruited by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). Téllez went on to become a comandante and fought alongside later president Daniel Ortega in the revolution that ousted dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979. In the subsequent FSLN government, she served as Health Minister under Ortega and has also been an advocate for women's rights. She ultimately became a critic of repression and corruption under President Ortega and left the FSLN in 1995 to found the party Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS), later renamed Unamos. Along with several other opposition figures, she was arrested in June 2021 by the Ortega government.
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