Nicaragua opposition rejects election results
1:00 AM
Posted: Friday, November 14, 2008
MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) -- Government opponents rejected a vote recount that on Thursday confirmed the ruling party's candidate won a disputed race to become mayor of Nicaragua's capital, because they said international observers had not participated.
A vote-by-vote recount showed former world boxing champion and Sandinista candidate Alexis Arguello won 51 percent of votes for Managua's mayor, while Constitutionalist Liberal Party candidate Eduardo Montealegre had 46 percent, the national elections council said.
Montealegre, a former finance minister who lost a presidential bid in 2006, refused to participate in the recount without foreign election monitors.
If international observers aren't allowed to review the results of all of last Sunday's municipal elections, his party may petition the Washington D.C.-based Organization of American States, spokesman Leonel Teller said.
The U.S. State Department has expressed concern about the vote, prompting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to accuse Washington of meddling.
The Sandinista party, led by Chavez's Nicaraguan ally President Daniel Ortega, won the most mayoral posts.
A vote-by-vote recount showed former world boxing champion and Sandinista candidate Alexis Arguello won 51 percent of votes for Managua's mayor, while Constitutionalist Liberal Party candidate Eduardo Montealegre had 46 percent, the national elections council said.
Montealegre, a former finance minister who lost a presidential bid in 2006, refused to participate in the recount without foreign election monitors.
If international observers aren't allowed to review the results of all of last Sunday's municipal elections, his party may petition the Washington D.C.-based Organization of American States, spokesman Leonel Teller said.
The U.S. State Department has expressed concern about the vote, prompting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to accuse Washington of meddling.
The Sandinista party, led by Chavez's Nicaraguan ally President Daniel Ortega, won the most mayoral posts.
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