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Nicaragua Local Government
Municipal governments have introduced a new element to
Nicaraguan politics that promises to substantially
decentralize
political power and influence. Established by the Law on
Municipalities adopted by the Sandinista National Assembly
in
August 1988, the first municipal governments were selected
in
1990. The municipal government structure with basic
governing
authority is the Municipal Council (Consejo Municipal).
Under the
provisions of the law, citizens vote directly for council
members; the number of these depends on the size of the
cities.
Once elected, council members select their own leader, the
mayor,
who serves with their approval.
Administratively, Nicaragua is divided into nine
regions,
which are subdivided into seventeen departments (fifteen
full
departments and two autonomous regions in the Caribbean
lowlands
that are treated as departments). In 1992 the country had
143
municipal units of varying sizes. Of the municipal units,
fifteen
were cities with populations estimated at more than
50,000;
Managua, the capital city, was the largest, with an
estimated 1.5
million inhabitants. Of the remaining municipal units,
thirty
were cities with populations estimated between 20,000 and
50,000,
twenty-three were towns of 10,000 to 20,000 inhabitants,
and
seventy-two had fewer than 10,000 inhabitants. The number
of
council members is based on the number of inhabitants; in
1992
Managua had the most, with twenty council members. Cities
that
are department capitals or have 20,000 or more in
population have
ten council members; towns with fewer than 20,000
inhabitants
have five.
The responsibilities and powers of the municipal
governments
and their method of conduct are based on constitutional
provisions and on the 1988 Law on Municipalities. Article
176 of
the constitution provides that the municipality is the
"basic
unit" of the administrative political divisions of the
country.
Article 177 provides that municipal authorities "enjoy
autonomy
without detriment to the faculties of the central
government."
The Law on Municipalities enumerates the responsibilities
of the
municipal government, specifies its taxing powers, and
establishes rules for its functioning. Among the
responsibilities
are control of urban development; use of the land,
sanitation,
rainwater drainage, and environmental protection;
construction
and maintenance of roads, parks, sidewalks, plazas,
bridges,
recreational areas, and cemeteries; verification of
weights and
measures; and establishment of museums, libraries, and
other
cultural activities. As is true in the United States, the
primary
taxing power of municipal governments is assessment on
property,
including houses and vehicles.
Data as of December 1993
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