Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, in power since 2007, has proposed extending the presidential term for one more year.

The government-controlled National Assembly is expected to approve the extension in September.

It is part of a constitutional reform proposal that also includes plans to ban opposition members considered by the government to be “traitors” or “coup plotters” from running for public office.

The 80-year-old’s rule has become increasingly authoritarian, with political opponents jailed, sent into exile and stripped of their citizenship.

During Ortega’s 19 years in power, there have already been several changes in the presidential mandate.

In 2014, the country’s National Assembly removed presidential term limits and in 2024 extended the term from five to six years.

The legislative body also approved Ortega’s plan to name his wife, Rosario Murillo, “co-president.”

Thus paving the way for her to assume the presidency should Ortega, who is believed to be in poor health, be declared “permanently absent.”