In addition, state-run media (television Canal 6 and Radio Nicaragua) have not provided the stipulated 30 minutes of airtime on TV and 45 minutes of radio broadcasting which, according the Law on Elections, the CSE must guarantee to all parties submitting candidates (…). 29 48. Regarding the 2011 elections, the Carter Center also indicated the following: The legal framework for the elections was marred by two important issues. First, the presidential candidacy of incumbent Daniel Ortega was inadmissible under the 1987 constitution because he had already served the maximum two terms (1984-1990; 2006- 2011), and because a reform passed in 1995 banned immediate reelection of the president. The Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) had ruled in 2009 that these restrictions violated another constitutional principle of individual equality (and therefore the right of Daniel Ortega to run for office), but the partisan make-up of the court and procedural irregularities in that decision called its validity into question. Second, the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) was composed of members who had overstayed their terms of office, having been authorized to do so by a questionable presidential decree in 2010. The CSE’s partisan composition and the dominance of the FSLN within the technical and administrative structure of the electoral branch were additional cause for concern, especially given that the same CSE magistrates had presided over municipal elections in 2008 in which opposition parties and domestic organizations presented significant evidence of fraud to the benefit of the governing party. 30 49. As for the OAS Electoral Accompaniment Mission, it underscored the following: [T]he regulatory framework in which the elections took place contains procedures beset with structural flaws that have existed since 1996. Mention was made of this structure and its flaws in the 2006 OAS Electoral Observation Mission Report. (…) [A] faction from one political party filed a motion with the courts. There were motions for constitutional relief (amparo) filed by three factions of the Independent Liberal Party (PLI). None of these motions had been settled as of the date of this report. In this a context, we hope that the Supreme Court of Justice rules on said matter as soon as possible, and puts an end to the current state of uncertainty. If the Court were to issue a decision preventing a deputy elect from taking office after his or her nomination had been accepted by the Supreme Electoral Council, then that would amount to a serious breach of the will of the people. (…) As a fifth aspect, the rule in place establishing the party composition of polling stations is in response to a political reality of the past and is currently not justified. The current composition only guarantees the dominance of board members from two political parties and creates a lesser presence for other political forces. The disadvantage of this is that it distorts the role of board members, who in practice end up assuming control functions that are specific to party agents. In practice, this kind of rule left the Independent Liberal Party with almost no presence at the polling stations. 31 IV. DETERMINATIONS OF LAW A. Political rights 32 1. General standards on the right to political participation on equal terms 50. The Commission recalls that “representative democracy is one of the pillars of the system that the Convention forms part of, and constitutes a principle reaffirmed by the States of the Americas in the OAS European Union, Election Observation Mission Nicaragua 2011. Presidential, legislative and Parlacen elections. Preliminary Statement, Managua, 8 November 2011. A relatively calm election day after a process lacking neutrality and transparency. Media, p. 7. 30 The Carter Center, The November 2011 Elections in Nicaragua: A Study Mission Report, p. 4. 31 OAS, Electoral Accompaniment Mission Report, General Elections in the Republic of Nicaragua, November 6, 2011, p. 10. 32 Article 23 of the American Convention provides that: 1. Every citizen shall enjoy the following rights and opportunities: a. to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives; b. to vote and to be elected in genuine periodic elections, which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and by secret ballot that guarantees the free expression of the will of the voters; and c. to have access, under general conditions of equality, to the public service of his country. 2. The law may regulate the exercise of the rights and opportunities referred to in the preceding paragraph only on the basis of age, nationality, residence, language, education, civil and mental capacity, or sentencing by a competent court in criminal proceedings. 29