Spain Pledges To Again Raise Nicaraguan Elections Issue In EU Over Fairness Concerns

Spain does not consider the general election held in Nicaragua to be free and competitive, and will again raise the issue on the European Union level, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Monday

MADRID (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th November, 2021) Spain does not consider the general election held in Nicaragua to be free and competitive, and will again raise the issue on the European Union level, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Monday.

Nicaragua held its general election on Sunday, with incumbent President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, running for re-elections. As of Monday, Ortega's ruling Sandinista Front is in the lead with 74.49% after nearly half of the vote count. Albares said the election cannot be considered "free, fair, or competitive."

"Opposition leaders who wanted to run are in prison, and we demand their immediate release, as we have been demanding since August," the minister told a briefing in Madrid.

Albares noted that there was "no audit of the elections" and that they have "no guarantees for the Spanish government... and for most of the countries of the international community and the EU."

"We have been saying this since August. We have issued several statements and recalled our ambassador to Managua in mid-August. We have raised the issue in the EU, received the support of all EU countries and especially the high representative... We will again raise the issue of Nicaragua within the EU," Albares added.

At the same time, he expressed solidarity with the people of Nicaragua and noted that Spain donated 1.

7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the country.

The Spanish Foreign Ministry officially announced in a statement that it refuses to recognize the results of the elections in Nicaragua and considers them "a mockery" as they failed to comply with basic democratic guarantees and do not reflect the will of the Nicaraguan people.

Earlier on Monday, The Council of the European Union has condemned the Nicaraguan elections as completing the country's transition into autocracy. Several western countries, including the United States, also refused to recognize the results of the vote over concerns about their fairness.

Since early June, several dozen opposition politicians and activists have been arrested in Nicaragua on various charges, including seven presidential candidates and the daughter of an ex-president of the country, Cristiana Chamorro, who was put under house arrest on suspicion of money laundering, The government has since denied that the arrests were politically motivated, accusing the politicnas of undermining Nicaragua's security.

About 250 international observers oversaw the voting in Nicaragua on Sunday. The country's foreign minister, Denis Moncada, told Sputnik that the 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."