By Stephen Marks
MANAGUA — The validity of the Nicaraguan elections held on October 20 is in even more doubt. As a result of the recount process, seven parties — the Renovation Action Movement, Bread and Force, National Conservative Action, Resistance, Unity Alliance, Communist Party and the Sandinista Front — have formally demanded that the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) annul the elections held in the Department of Managua. More than 30% of the country's population lives in Managua.
According to the FSLN, only 605 of the 2285 polling booths in Managua have met all of the legal requirements. The documentation from 680 polling booths has irregularities. Of the polling booth tally sheets, 207 have disappeared and 408 are incomplete. Another 1055 have serious inconsistencies. In addition, in the Managua Tally Centre, there are 150 bags of votes of unknown origin. According to the FSLN, the Departmental Electoral Council (CED) has not satisfactorily dealt with these and other irregularities.
International observers have confirmed the various types of allegations made by virtually every party, except the Liberal Alliance (AL). PCAPEN, a mission of 140 observers from 119 organisations in Catalonia, Spain, observed a series of irregularities in the 25 municipalities where it was present. In addition to "delayed openings, lack of materials in some of the polling booths, poor infrastructure and inadequate support", the most disturbing observation of PCAPEN was that, "scrutineers were not permitted to be present in the transmission of the telegrams of results to the CSE; tally sheets were completed outside of the polling booths, without the presence of the scrutineers; and tally sheets were altered". Another group of observers from 18 countries, the Women's International Observer Mission, made similar observations.
The FSLN has repeatedly urged the CSE to correct irregularities, in the departments of Managua, Matagalpa, Jinotega, Boaco, Chontales and Carazo where the presidents of the CED's are members of the AL. The FSLN has complained that the revision process is not being carried out properly and that the orders of the CSE are being "ignored and rejected".
Ignoring these widespread concerns, the US State Department spokesperson, Nicholas Burns, has congratulated Alemãn on his "victory" and some international observers, such as the European Union, the Carter Centre and the Organisation of American States (OAS) have pronounced the elections to be fair, albeit with some "irregularities". Alemãn, and Cardinal Obando y Bravo, have criticised the CSE for not formalising his "victory". The Cardinal has revealed himself to be a close ally of Alemãn by bestowing a religious blessing on him just prior to the elections. To make his sympathies even more obvious, Obando y Bravo's sermon in a televised mass cautioned voters to "be careful of snakes", the Liberal's euphemism for Sandinistas.
The CSE has suspended the issuing of national results, and the outcome may not be known until mid-November. National observers, the European Union and the OAS indicated on October 28 that the AL had between 48% and 49.22% of the vote, and the FSLN between 40.87% and 41%. On October 25, the right-wing daily La Prensa speculated that at least 37 Sandinistas will win seats in the 90-member National Assembly. The other parties represented would be the AL, with 44 seats; the Christian Path, with four; and the Conservatives with three. Of the roughly 140 mayors, La Prensa estimates that the AL will win 73, but according to Barricada, the FSLN daily, the Sandinistas will win more than 60 mayors, despite the fraud. Both the AL and the FSLN are claiming victory in the recount for the mayor of the crucial city of Managua.
The continued strength of the FSLN will mean that, in the event of Alemãn being declared winner, he will not have sufficient numbers in the Assembly to change the constitution, or replace judges and the heads of the police and the army. The heads of both the army and the Supreme Court have commented that the new President, whoever he is, will have to respect the Constitution.