The President of
Nicaragua Daniel Ortega has named his wife as his running mate in November’s
elections, leading to accusations he is trying to found a political dynasty.
The former guerrilla
fighter hopes to win a third consecutive term for the Sandinista National
Liberation Front (FSLN) with his wife, Rosario Murillo, as his vice president.
Interesting!
“This revolution – in
which women have participated shoulder to shoulder – has opened the doors to
the full participation of women in all spheres: political, social and
economic,” he said.
Murillo, who is
currently serving as the government’s communications chief, is known for “her
idiosyncratic blend of socialism, Roman Catholicism and new-age beliefs”, says
The Guardian, and is credited with “overhauling both her husband’s image and
that of the movement he leads”.
Ortega has described
his “joint government” with his wife “as a symbol of equality between the
sexes”, says Reuters, but many Nicaraguans “see Murillo as wielding the most
power in her country because of her higher public profile”, reports the BBC.
Critics say the couple
has run the country as their own personal fiefdom and many fear “a return to
familial rule in Nicaragua”, says Newsweek. The Somoza family governed
Nicaragua as a dictatorship for 40 years, until they were overthrown by the
left-wing Sandinistas in 1979.
Mother of the president's seven children,
she is fluent in English and French in addition to being a renowned poet.
She
also has a reputation for wearing colourfully extravagant outfits and jewellery
more commonly seen in the hippy 1960s.
Correspondents
say many Nicaraguans see Ms Murillo as wielding the most power in her country
because of her higher public profile.
Husband
and wife officially submitted their candidacy papers in the capital Managua,
accompanied by the legal adviser of their Sandinista party.
Hundreds
of Sandinista supporters cheered the couple when they left the building.
But
opposition supporters are concerned her promotion may herald the rise of a new
family dynasty in the impoverished Central American nation.
Mr
Ortega, 70, is a former left-wing guerrilla who formed part of the government
junta following the Sandinista revolution against the dictatorship of the
Somoza family, which ruled Nicaragua for four decades.
Ortega first ruled the Central American
country in the 1980s and returned to power as head of the leftist Sandinista
National Liberation Front (FSLN) party in 2007. Murillo has been affiliated
with the FSLN since the 1970s. The couple were married in 2005.
Remarkable! This is
mind blowing; in the World history this is the first time a ruling president
has declares his own wife as an election running mate and even go public about
it.
The party lost elections in the 1990s, but Mr Ortega returned
to power in January 2007, after a successful election campaign
SOURCE: The Guardian
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