Ortega re-elected Nicaraguan president

Tue Nov 8, 2011 12:3AM GMT

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Nicaragua's president-elect Daniel Ortega

Nicaragua's incumbent President Daniel Ortega has won the country's presidential elections by securing 62.7 percent of the vote.

Ortega's closest rival, Fabio Gadea, won only 31 percent of the vote, Reuters reported on Monday.

Gadea, a conservative radio personality, refused to accept the results and accused the president-elect of electoral fraud.

However, the international observers present at the polls said the irregular voting patterns spotted during the event were not strong enough to change the results.

The victory sent Ortega's supporters celebrating on the streets of the capital Managua on Monday.

“I'm happy ... I think that people are convinced, they voted for social programs, voted for the future, voted for the poor,” said a lawyer named Silvia Calderon.

Ortega has been a leading figure in Nicaraguan politics since he led a revolution to overthrow the country's dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979.

Ortega was elected president in 1984 amid fighting a civil war against the US-backed Contra rebels and was voted out of power in 1990. He failed in successive bids for re-election in 1996 and 2001, but returned to power in 2007.

Ortega's policies have won widespread support in Nicaragua and his social programs have attracted a large fan base over the past five years.

HSH/HN/MA