A unanimous vote on Thursday ushered in what critics have described as a power grab by Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo. The reforms also make the vice president a “co-president”.

“We have to go step by step and make it clear that Nicaragua’s government is a revolutionary government, even if that hurts some people’s feelings,” the head of Nicaragua’s National Assembly, Gustavo Porras, said earlier this month.

The move is the latest to expand the influence of Ortega, who has been criticised for wielding the power of the state to crack down on dissent.

The  reforms expand government influence over the media, extend the presidential term to six years, and allow either co-president to pick any number of vice presidents. In the event of Ortega’s death, Murillo would also automatically become Nicaragua’s president without new elections.

“In this way, we continue to comply with the guidelines of the presidency of the republic, Comandante Daniel Ortega and Companera Rosario Murillo, in order to continue deepening our revolution,” a statement from the National Assembly asserted on Wednesday.

The reforms to Nicaragua’s executive power were passed over two days.

In  a report on the state of rights in Nicaragua in 2024, the international watchdog group Human Rights Watch said that Ortega and Murillo have continued to intensify repressive activities.

It added that the constitutional reforms would provide legal cover for “systematic human rights violations”, such as revoking the citizenship of supposed “traitors”.

While  Ortega was once a prominent member of the armed Sandinista rebellion against the United States-backed military leader Anastasio Somoza, he has since imprisoned former compatriots critical of his policies and rights abuses.

He first served as president from 1985 to 1990, before returning for a second stretch as president in 2007. Critics say his second period in office has been defined by growing anti-democratic tendencies and crimes against humanity.

A turning point came in 2018, when anti-austerity protests met a violent government backlash that killed at least 355 people. In the years since, Ortega has moved to shutter nongovernmental organisations, religious groups and universities.

He has also organised flights to deport opposition figures and protesters imprisoned under his administration, stripping them of their citizenship once they were abroad and seizing their property.

One activist, Tamara Davila, told Al Jazeera in 2023 that she felt defiant about the government’s decision to revoke her citizenship after sending her to the United States.

“I don’t care if they do that. I’m still a Nicaraguan woman,” Davila said. But she added that being stateless created logistical problems while navigating new systems abroad. “In practical, day-to-day life, you need your documents for living these days.”