>From the Financial Times webpage Sandinistas regain Managua By Andrew Bounds in Managua Published: November 6 2000 05:19GMT | Last Updated: November 6 2000 05:28GMT The leftwing Sandinista Liberation Front was poised to take control of Nicaragua's capital in municipal elections on Sunday night for the first time since it lost power at the ballot box in 1990. Early results showed the Front's mayoral candidate, Herty Lewites, winning around half the vote. Mr Lewites claimed victory and said he would work with President Alfonso Aleman, of the Constitutional Liberal party, and the private sector. "I will be the mayor for all Managuans," he said. The moderate has distanced himself from the Sandinista leadership, many of whom are on the hard left. Controlling Managua will give the party access to resources for next year's presidential elections. Sunday's voting passed peacefully and fears of violence were not realised. There was a widespread boycott on the Atlantic coast, where the banning of a Miskito Indian party from the race had caused tensions. One person died during clashes with police last week and Brooklin Rivera, a local leader who fought with the US-backed anti-Sandinista resistance in the 1980s, had threatened more violence. The Organisation of American States, which is monitoring the elections, said there was a "tense calm" in the region and said there could be trouble if Nicaragua's electoral council did not order a rerun to let the excluded party, Yatama, to run. Silvio Calderon, a director of the council, said that was unlikely. The OAS added that the absence of electors on electoral rolls, the switching of some polling stations, and the retention by the authorities of some voters' identity cards "were aspects that generated confusion and, in some cases, abstention." A controversial electoral law passed by the Liberals and Sandinistas in February has strict voting criteria , which appear to be aimed at maintaining their dominance of the country's politics. _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
