MANAGUA, Nicaragua, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Nicaraguan lawmakers voted a new constitution into law, clearing the way for President Daniel Ortega's indefinite re-election.
The so-called Sandinista reforms -- named after the leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front -- were passed 64-25 in a second round of voting, the Nicaragua Dispatch reported Wednesday.
The 25 lawmakers who opposed the reforms walked out of the legislative chamber in protest after casting their votes.
Congressman Maria Eugenia Sequeira, second vice president of the National Assembly, said the people of the country "gain nothing" from the new constitution because it doesn't address unemployment, education, healthcare or housing problems. Instead, the reforms foist partisan ideology upon the people, she said.
"What do the Nicaraguan people gain from the indefinite re-election of the president, when we already know from past experiences the consequences that brings?" she said.
