MANAGUA, Dec. 11 (PNA/Xinhua) — Nicaragua’s National Assembly voted Tuesday in favor of eliminating presidential term limits, a top lawmaker said, paving the way for President Daniel Ortega’s reelection in 2016.
The reform would be passed a second time in a new legislative session in January 2014, before it becomes law, president of the National Assembly, Rene Nunez, was quoted by local reports.
The proposed reform was approved by a vote of 64 to 26, with zero abstentions, said Nunez.
The proposed changes would eliminate term limits on the presidency and allow active duty police and military officials to hold government offices currently reserved for civilians.
The bill is expected to be adopted since Nicaragua’s ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front, which proposed the bill, holds a majority in both the lower and upper houses of the Congress.
Ortega is currently serving his third term as president under a supreme court decision that overrode the constitutional ban. (PNA/Xinhua)