Nicaragua » Politics

Politics of Nicaragua takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Nicaragua is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

The Supreme Court supervises the functioning of a rather stretched judicial system. As part of the 1995 constitutional reforms, the independence of the Supreme Court was strengthened by increasing the number of magistrates. Supreme Court Justices are nominated by the political parties and elected to 5-year terms by the National Assembly.

In January 2005 the National Assembly controlled by Liberals and Sandinistas, passed a 'law to partially reform the constitution,' which stripped the Presidency of many of its powers and transferred them to the National Assembly, forming a quasi-parliamentary system. The law came into force in February 2005. A National Dialogue began between President Bolanos and the two opposition parties to avoid the political impasse caused by these constitutional reforms.

In April 2005, the Central American Court of Justice ruled in favour of President Bolanos and ordered the National Assembly to freeze constitutional reforms. However, Nicaragua's Supreme Court ruled against the Central American Court decision.

In December 2005, Daniel Ortega, then head of the Sandinista/FSLN party agreed to suspend the constitutional reforms until after President Bolanos' administration had been completed and announced the end of the pact with Aleman.