Nicaragua’s opposition on Tuesday rejected results of weekend local elections that gave a large victory to the ruling Sandinistas, as fresh violence broke out between supporters of both parties.
The Sandinista National Liberation Front won 91 out of 146 municipalities, including the capital, according to an official count of 86 percent of the vote after Sunday’s polls, which were marked by violence and allegations of fraud.
“We agreed not to accept the electoral results due to so many anomalies and irregularities,” said Leonel Teller, spokesman of the main opposition Liberal Constitutional Party.
He said the opposition sought a recount using local and international observers.
Organization of American States Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza on Tuesday expressed “concern for the difficulties arising in Nicaragua” after the elections.
New violence broke out between supporters of both sides in Managua on Tuesday, but it was unclear if there were any casualties.
Several were wounded, and one died according to the opposition, in clashes on Monday.
The civic group Ethics and Transparency has said it recorded irregularities in 32 percent of the polling places it monitored. The group was among many would-be election observers the government had refused to accredit.
The government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla and president (1985 to 1990), came under fire even before the polls for barring two opposition parties from fielding mayoral candidates and for police raids against non-governmental organizations.
The US has been vocal in its opposition to Ortega, whom they see as bolstering an anti-US bloc in Latin America.
Sunday’s vote was postponed in seven out of Nicaragua’s 153 municipalities until January due to storm damage from last year’s Hurricane Felix.
Almost 4 million Nicaraguans were eligible to vote.
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