Ortega Wins Nicaraguan Election, Early Count Shows (Update2)

By Bill Faries

Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Daniel Ortega, the Sandinista guerrilla leader who ran Nicaragua in the 1980s, regained power by winning the Central American country's presidential election, an early count of the votes showed.

Ortega, making his third bid to return to office since being voted out in 1990, won 40 percent of yesterday's vote with 15 percent of the polling stations reporting, Nicaragua's electoral tribunal said on its Web site. Ortega can win the election outright in the first round by attaining 40 percent of the vote or by getting 35 percent of the vote and defeating the second-place candidate by at least 5 percentage points.

Ortega, whose rule in the 1980s was marked by soaring inflation and a civil war against U.S.-backed rebels, had a lead of about 7 percentage points over Eduardo Montealegre of the National Liberal Alliance party. Former vice president Jose Rizo is in third place with 20 percent of the votes.

``We have to wait'' for final results, Montealegre said in an interview with CNN en Espanol. He said the election had been ``plagued by irregularities,'' such as the slow vote count and polling stations opening late yesterday.

Etica y Transparencia, a Nicaraguan organization monitoring the election, said a quick count of 10 percent of the country's 11,200 polling stations shows Ortega with an insurmountable lead, Agence France Presse reported. Roberto Courtney, director for Etica y Transparencia, didn't return telephone calls seeking comment.

U.S. Aid

U.S. officials, including Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, have raised alarm over the prospect of a victory by Ortega, 61. Gutierrez said $220 million in U.S. aid and Nicaragua's participation in the Central American Free Trade Agreement would be at risk if Ortega wins.

After the polls closed last night, the official U.S. delegation observing the elections issued a statement reporting ``anomalies'' in the voting process, including polling stations that opened late or closed early.

``We are therefore not in a position at this time to make an overall judgment on the fairness and transparency of the process,'' the delegation said in a statement.

Jennifer McCoy, Americas director for the Atlanta-based Carter Center, said by telephone an hour before the polls closed yesterday that the group hadn't seen any reports or allegations of problems. The Carter Center is leading an international delegation of election observers, including former U.S. president Jimmy Carter.

Iran-Contra

Oliver North, Ortega's antagonist in the 1980s Iran-Contra Affair, has also challenged the ex-president's campaign to return to office. North, a retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who ran an illegal program funding rebels seeking to topple Ortega, flew to Nicaragua to support his opponents.

Nicaragua is the Western Hemisphere's second-poorest country with a $5 billion economy, according to the Inter- American Development Bank.

The Organization of American States and the Carter Center, which is based in Atlanta, have sent observers to monitor the election. The Carter Center delegation is led by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, ex-Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo and ex-Panamanian President Nicolas Ardito-Barletta.

To see the Web site for Nicaragua's electoral commission click http://www.cse.gob.ni .

To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Faries in Buenos Aires at wfaries@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 6, 2006 10:04 EST

Ortega headed for stunning victory in Nicaragua Ortega leading in Nicaragua vote