FILE - In this April 10, 2015, file photo, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega listens during a multi-lateral meeting with Central American Integration System Presidents, in Panama City, Panama. Ortega’s Sandinista party announced on Saturday, May 5, 2016, that he is officially running for reelection to what would be his third consecutive term as Nicaragua’s president and the seventh straight time he has been the Sandinistas’ candidate. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
Republished June 05, 2016 - 10:30 AM
Original Publication Date June 05, 2016 - 9:25 AM
MANAGUA, Nicaragua - Daniel Ortega is officially running for what would be his third consecutive term as Nicaragua's president.
Ortega's Sandinista party congress has nominated him for the November vote. It's the seventh straight time he has been the Sandinistas candidate, going back to 1984, the first time he was elected president. He won again in 2006 and 2011.
Ortega said Saturday night that he will not invite international observers to witness the vote because he considers them a form of intervention.
He lambasted what he called "shameless observers" and singled out the European Union and the Organization of American States.
Opposition leaders have called for independent, international observers to monitor the vote due to claims of electoral fraud in previous elections in 2008 and 2011.
News from © The Associated Press, 2016