Nicaraguan leader proposes extending presidential term by another year

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who has been in power since 2007, has proposed extending the presidential term by another year.

The government-controlled National Assembly is expected to approve the extension in September.

It is part of a proposed constitutional reform which also includes plans to bar members of the opposition deemed by the government to be "traitors" or "coup plotters" from running for office.

The 80-year-old's rule has become increasingly authoritarian, with political opponents jailed, sent into exile and stripped of their citizenship.

During Ortega's 19 years in power, there have been several changes to the presidential term already.

In 2014, the country's National Assembly scrapped presidential term limits and in 2024 it extended the term from five to six years.

The legislative body also approved Ortega's plan to name his wife, Rosario Murillo, as "co-president".

It thereby paved the way for her to assume as president should Ortega, who is believed to be in frail health, be declared "permanently absent".