Politics-Lewites, Montealegre Early Leaders in Nicaragua
(Angus Reid Global Scan) – Former Managua mayor Herty Lewites heads the list of presidential hopefuls in Nicaragua, according to a poll by CID-Gallup. 25 per cent of respondents would vote for Lewites in next year’s election.
Former Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC) member and presidency secretary Eduardo Montealegre is second with 21 per cent, followed by former president Daniel Ortega of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) with 12 per cent
Support is lower for former head of state Arnoldo Alemán, former PLC secretary and current Liberal Nationalist Party (PLN) member José Antonio Alvarado and former first lady María Fernanda Flores de Alemán. The next presidential election is scheduled for November 2006.
Lewites headed the government of Nicaragua’s capital from 2001 to 2005, but was expelled from the FSLN in February. In March, the party officially designated Ortega as its presidential nominee. Ortega governed from 1985 to 1990, but was a losing candidate in the 1990, 1996 and 2001 ballots.
In June, Lewites and Montealegre announced the formation of a unified front during an assembly of the Conservative Party (PC).
In 2001, the PLC’s Enrique Bolaños won the presidential election with 56.3 per cent of the vote. The president lost the support of the PLC in January 2002, when his government decided to take legal action against Alemán. Last year, the former head of state—who governed the country from 1997 to 2002—was sentenced to 20 years in prison for fraud, money laundering and embezzlement.
Polling Data
If the presidential election took place today, who would you vote for?
Herty Lewites
25%
Eduardo Montealegre
21%
Daniel Ortega
12%
Arnoldo Alemán
4%
José Antonio Alvarado
4%
María Fernanda Flores de Alemán
1%
None
13%
Undecided
20%
Source: CID-Gallup
Methodology: Interviews to 1,258 Nicaraguan adults, conducted from Jul. 25 to Jul. 30, 2005. Margin of error is 2.7 per cent.
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