1990 Nicaraguan general election

1990 Nicaraguan general election

← 1984 25 February 1990 1996 →
Presidential election
Turnout86.23% (Increase 10.8 pp)
 
Candidate Violeta Chamorro Daniel Ortega
Party UNO FSLN
Running mate Virgilio Godoy Sergio Ramírez
Popular vote 777,552 579,886
Percentage 54.74% 40.82%

Results by department

President before election

Daniel Ortega
FSLN

Elected President

Violeta Chamorro
UNO

Parliamentary election

90 seats in the National Assembly
46 seats needed for a majority
Party Leader % Seats +/–
UNO Violeta Chamorro 53.88 51 New
FSLN Daniel Ortega 40.84 39 −22
PSC Erick Ramírez 1.57 1 +1
MUR Moisés Hassan 0.99 1 New
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
President of the National Assembly before President of the National Assembly after
Carlos Núñez
FSLN
Miriam Argüello
APCUNO

General elections were held in Nicaragua on 25 February 1990 to elect the President and the members of the National Assembly. The result was a victory for the National Opposition Union (UNO), whose presidential candidate Violeta Chamorro surprisingly defeated incumbent president Daniel Ortega of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). This led to a historic peaceful and democratic transfer of power in Nicaragua.

Background

Ortega had held power since the FSLN toppled the Somoza dictatorship in 1979. Chamorro was the editor of the country's largest newspaper, La Prensa, which she took over after the assassination of her husband Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal in 1978. A vocal critic of the dictatorship, his murder galvanized support for the Sandinistas against the dictatorship. Following the revolution that overthrew Somoza, Violeta Chamorro initially supported the FSLN government, accepting an invitation to join the Junta of National Reconstruction. However she soon became disenchanted and resigned, returning to the newspaper and becoming a critic of the FSLN government. In 1989 the United States Congress approved $9 million for the promotion of democracy in Nicaragua, of which $2.5 million was set aside for the UNO, in addition to a $5 million grant for the opposition earlier that year. Beginning in early 1989 the government held a series of talks with the opposition about reforming electoral and media laws. In April 1989 the Electoral Law was reformed, giving the opposition a larger share of public campaign funds, increased access to state run media and permission to receive foreign financing.

Campaign

With a diverse coalition of 14 opposition groups, the UNO mainly campaigned on a promise to end the decades of civil war and instability that wracked the country.

While the FSLN was mainly under controversy for their campaign due to their use of violence.

Opinion polls

Opinion polls leading up to the elections divided along partisan lines, with 10 of 17 polls analyzed in a contemporary study predicting an UNO victory while 7 predicted the Sandinistas would retain power.

Results

The election was organized by Mariano Fiallos Oyanguren, a law professor and Sandinista who was appointed by the FSLN in 1984 to head the Supreme Electoral Council. He faced party pressure to throw the race, specifically to announce at 19:00 on election night that the results of the first four precincts were four victories for the FSLN. Instead he chose to read the real results, which split the precincts, with two going to the FSLN and two to the ONU, which went on to win the election. Chamorro was elected with just under 55% of the vote.

Antonio Lacayo, a Sandinista supporter who voted for Ortega but ultimately served as a central figure in the Violeta Chamorro administration, said later: “Without Mariano Fiallos [Oyanguren] there would have been no democratic transition in 1990.”

President

CandidatePartyVotes%
Violeta ChamorroNational Opposition Union777,55254.74
Daniel OrtegaSandinista National Liberation Front579,88640.82
Erick Ramírez BeneventesSocial Christian Party16,7511.18
Moisés HassánRevolutionary Unity Movement11,1360.78
Bonifacio Miranda BengoecheaWorkers' Revolutionary Party8,5900.60
Isidro Téllez ToruñoMarxist–Leninist Popular Action Movement8,1150.57
Fernando Bernabé Agüero RochaSocial Conservative Party5,7980.41
Blanca Rojas EchaverryCentral American Unionist Party5,0650.36
Eduardo Molina PalaciosDemocratic Conservative Party4,5000.32
Rodolfo Robelo HerreraIndependent Liberal Party for National Unity3,1510.22
Total1,420,544100.00
Valid votes1,420,54494.02
Invalid/blank votes90,2945.98
Total votes1,510,838100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,752,08886.23
Source: Nohlen, Sarti

National Assembly

PartyVotes%Seats
National Opposition Union764,74853.8851
Sandinista National Liberation Front579,72340.8439
Social Christian Party22,2181.571
Revolutionary Unity Movement13,9950.991
Workers' Revolutionary Party10,5860.750
Marxist–Leninist Popular Action Movement7,6430.540
Social Conservative Party6,3080.440
Central American Unionist Party5,5650.390
Democratic Conservative Party5,0830.360
Independent Liberal Party for National Unity3,5150.250
Total1,419,384100.0092
Valid votes1,419,38493.87
Invalid/blank votes92,7236.13
Total votes1,512,107100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,752,08886.30
Source: Nohlen

By region

Region FSLN UNO Other
Boaco 24.04% 70.70% 5.26%
Carazo 51.62% 44.55% 3.84%
Chinandega 41.71% 54.26% 4.03%
Chontales 25.48% 70.31% 4.22%
Esteli 51.07% 44.45% 4.47%
Granada 37.52% 58.63% 3.85%
Jinotega 37.44% 54.81% 7.74%
Leon 45.67% 50.45% 3.87%
Madriz 40.90% 54.50% 4.59%
Managua 42.48% 53.35% 4.17%
Masaya 41.84% 54.65% 3.50%
Matagalpa 35.50% 59.27% 5.23%
Nueva Segovia 49.51% 46.60% 3.89%
RAAN 39.21% 17.02% 43.77%
RAAS 34.37% 58.70% 6.93%
Rio San Juan 57.72% 39.47% 2.81%
Rivas 45.09% 51.56% 3.34%
Source: Constituency Level Elections Archive

Analysis

Possible explanations for the ONU victory include that the Nicaraguan people were disenchanted with the Ortega government, specifically discontentment with the management of the economy and the hostile posture toward the United States, believing the ONU was more likely to bring peace. Additionally, in November 1989, the White House had met with Chamorro on the subject of peace and democracy in Nicaragua and announced that the economic embargo against Nicaragua would end if Chamorro won. There are also reports of intimidation from the side of the Contras, with a Canadian observer mission claiming that 42 people were killed by the Contras in "election violence" in October 1989.


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