No Disturbances During Presidential Election In Nicaragua - Police

MANAGUA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th November, 2021) The presidential election in Nicaragua is proceeding in a calm atmosphere, head of the national police Francisco Diaz said on Sunday.

"The voting (turnout) is massive, (proceeding) in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility," Diaz told reporters.

Polling stations in Nicaragua opened for voting early in the morning. Over four million of the country's citizens will be electing the country's president and parliament for the next five years. The ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front has confirmed longtime President Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, as their candidate and running mate, respectively.

For 76-year-old Ortega, this will be his fourth consecutive re-election and fifth in his entire political career. Ortega and Murillo already cast their votes in the capital of Managua.

The country has opened 3,106 voting centers and 13,459 polling stations. The army and the national police are in charge of the logistics, while security is provided by special electoral police recruited from regular citizens. About 250 international observers and 40 journalists from foreign media arrived in the country to monitor the voting.

In the weeks leading to the election, the United States and several other countries have accused the Nicaraguan government of subverting the democratic electoral process and persecuting the opposition.

The country's foreign minister, Denis Moncada, told Sputnik that the Sunday elections are fair and transparent, held in a legal and constitutional way. He stressed that the Nicaraguan leader will be elected based on the will of the people and not by "imperial powers."