The co-president of Nicaragua, Rosario Murillo, has announced that the National Assembly plans to present this weekend the "advances" of the reforms that the Executive intends to push forward to veto the opposition and extend the duration of the presidential mandate, after the Organization of American States (OAS) has called an extraordinary session to address the democratic crisis that the country is going through.
"Our National Assembly will announce the advances of the consultations on the electoral reforms," Murillo has pointed out, detailing that the presentation will be made before "hundreds of young people from the new generations," according to the newspaper 'La Prensa.'
In her speech, Murillo has harshly attacked the opposition in exile, whom she accuses of not wanting a homeland nor feeling part of it. "There are those who do not want a homeland" nor "belong" to it, she has denounced, before questioning herself, "And what should we, as patriots, do? First ignore them because they are nobody, but also expose them as the ridiculous outlaws who, lacking courage and a voice of their own, make up legions of liars in what they call social networks," she has stated.
The co-president has also described the exiled opponents as "packs" that "bark and bark." "They think they are heroes when they are really scarecrows. Without rhyme or reason; just scarecrows, greedy, for the scraps they await," she has emphasized.
The package of constitutional reforms promoted by the government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo includes changes in electoral regulations and in institutional architecture with the aim of extending the presidential term to seven years, with the option of renewal, and excluding opposition forces from the elections.
In particular, the project stipulates that those who are categorized as "coup plotters" or "traitors to the homeland," or are attributed with having attacked the independence, sovereignty, or self-determination of Nicaragua, will be disqualified from participating in electoral processes.
Likewise, it is expected that the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) will have the authority to cancel the legal status of those organizations that receive "foreign funding" or promote the imposition of sanctions against the Nicaraguan government, among other assumptions.