Oh Dear, here comes The Pact again! In Nicaragua the so-called pact (El Pacto) has been revived (if it ever died down). According to founder Chamorro's CINCO/Centro de Investigación de la Comunicación, the political winds are blowing in much the same direction as around the turn of the Millenium, when the so-called pact was originally made between Daniel Ortega's FSLN/Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional and former president Arnoldo Aléman's old party PLC/Partido Liberal Constitucionalista. They simply split the political power between these two major parties on each side of the political centre, and split the state institutions likewise. With limited room for maneuvres of opposition parties, and with Ortaga now ruling by decree.
Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Aléman served from 1997-2002, after Conservative Violeta Chamorro, and exchanged in 2002-07 by centrered Enrique Bolaños - who simply had no succes in ruling due to The Pact in the parliamant and state institutions. Former President Aléman was out on a ban when his presidential period ended. For a while. On 7 December 2003 he was sentenced to a 20-year prison term for a string of crimes including money laundering, embezzlement, and corruption - but this was later overruled again.
In 2006, when I last visited Nicaragua in the aftermath of the 2006 presidential election, there were already widespread rumours that Aléman, though sentenced to imprisonment, was seen on several occasions around town in Managua, and that his sentence would be overruled. Due to The Pact. The rumours maintained that Ortega won his election as part of this pact (he spoke up for the church and against abortion to make his part of the deal, as the story went). And that Aléman would be out and once more running for president after his sentence would be overturned.
Lo and behold! Last year, on 16 January 2009, Nicaragua’s Supreme Court did in fact overturn the 20-year corruption sentence against the former president. And CINCO now reports in the latest edition of the 'Boletin - Perspectivas 2010', that Aléman will be running for president at the next presidential election in 2011. But of course, you should never listen to local rumours in the streets of Managua. Although the latest jungle drums from end of January now reports that the Tribunal considers to re-open two other cases against Aléman...
Paradoxical Pact aside, maybe Ortega is not quite done serving as President?
For further information, please see:
http://www.cinco.org.ni/
http://www.cinco.org.ni/archive/173.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnoldo_Alemán
http://www.laprensa.com.ni/archivo/2009/enero/16/noticias/ultimahora/306700.shtml
http://www.laprensa.com.ni/2010/01/29/claves/Arnoldo%20Alemán
http://paradoxicalnews.blogspot.com/2009/06/nicaragua-in-political-quicksand.html