Nicaragua: President Daniel Ortega Names His Wife as Running Mate

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has shocked the world by naming his wife as his running mate and candidate for vice-president as he seeks re-election for a third term in November.
Already, first Lady Rosario Murillo plays an important role in her husband’s government as the chief government spokeswoman. Beyond that, she is widely seen as sharing power with her husband and influencing a lot of decisions, making appearance on Nicaraguan TV almost every day.
Interestingly, President Daniel Ortega himself hardly speak to the media but the wife does—which has led critics to say the couple are running the country like “a personal fiefdom'” BBC reports.
According to Reuters, President Ortega has ‘previously described the “joint government” with Rosario Murillo as a symbol of equality between the sexes.’
In announcing the wife as a running mate, Ortega said: “We don’t doubt that (the vice presidential candidate) had to be a woman, and who better than the partner who has already been tested with work and proved to be very efficient and disciplined?”
Rosario Murillo, a renowned poet, is the mother of the president’s seven children and she fluently speaksEnglish and French.