Daniel Ortega said Nicaragua will hold no elections "anytime soon," effectively scrapping the next presidential vote scheduled for November 2027.
The announcement deepens Ortega's push to cement power after Congress in January 2025 extended the presidential term by one year and after years of rewriting the constitution and crushing rivals.
Opposition figures and rights groups called the move an escalation from rigged elections to outright elimination of electoral competition, warning it could bring harsher repression.
At least 46 people are jailed for political reasons, according to a monitoring group, while ex-prisoners and activists say the government has used exile, torture allegations and citizenship stripping to silence dissent.
Since the 2018 protest crackdown that killed hundreds, Ortega and co-ruler Rosario Murillo have shuttered more than 5,000 organizations, forced thousands to flee and tightened one-party control.