San José, Nov 22 (EFE).- Nicaragua’s National Assembly on Friday unanimously approved a constitutional reform that redefines the state as «revolutionary» and gives President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, sweeping powers over the other branches of government. The reform must still be approved by a second legislatures before it can take effect.
Earlier this week, Ortega presented the bill to the legislature – which quickly approved it in a first vote – that would reform 135 articles of Nicaragua’s Magna Carta and repeal 38 others, including one that prohibits the use of torture.
The constitutional reform -which has been harshly criticized by Nicaraguan opposition, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and the United States- would extend the presidential term from five to six years, create the position of «co-president» and stipulate that the executive branch would «coordinate» the other branches of government.
The Voluntary Police, an informal force that the opposition and humanitarian organizations have accused of operating as a paramilitary militia at the service of the state, would become an auxiliary and support body to the National Police.
The government would also be given the power to oversee that news outlets are not «subservient» to foreign interests or spreading false news.
The UN said Friday that the reform threatens the rule of law and could worsen the country’s ongoing human rights crisis.
«These changes will sound the death knell for fundamental freedoms and rule of law in Nicaragua, further eroding the already deeply fragile remaining checks and balances on the executive (branch),» UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk stated in response to the legislative measure, adding that the removal of the explicit constitutional ban on torture is a «retrograde step» that he called «profoundly alarming.» EFE
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