DUBBED Nicaragua’s answer to Hillary and Bill Clinton, leftist president Daniel Ortega has caused controversy by choosing his wife Rosario Murillo as his running mate.

While women like Winnie Mandela and Mao Zedong’s wife, Jiang Qing, have wielded considerable influence on their president spouses, never before has a husband and wife team run for the top jobs on the same presidential ballot.

Critics, already unhappy about Ortega’s bid for a third term in office, say the move raises further questions about his commitment to democracy.

They claim the couple are attempting to take total control of state institutions and establish a political dynasty.

Eliseo Nunez, of the opposition Liberal Party, condemned the Murillo nomination as “absolutist, totalitarian and without respect for the law.”

“I have always thought that Ortega’s plan was to guarantee his family’s succession in case he can’t go on or isn’t around, and this is proof of that,” said the former congressman.

“To me, it’s an insult — not just to all Nicaraguans, but also to the entire Sandinista movement — because it says that in Nicaragua there are no Sandinistas or Sandinista women who can aspire to this role — only the Ortega-Murillo family.”

WILL THEY WIN?

DESPITE the controversy, Ortega is expected to sweep to power on November 6. The former guerilla leader is still very popular as a result of his able handling of the economy and his social welfare innovations supported by leftist allies Venezuela and Cuba.

Annual growth has maintained an average of five per cent over the last five years and the poverty rate has tumbled to 30 per cent of the population from 42.5 per cent in 2009.

However, the country remains one of the poorest in the western hemisphere and fears are growing that with the appointment of Murillo as running mate, the family could stay in power for decades.

Two years ago the law was changed to allow 70-year-old Ortega to be re-elected indefinitely and in the summer Ortega’s party, the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), was accused of trying to install a one-party regime after Eduardo Montealegre, the leader of the main opposition, the Independent Liberal Party (PLI), was ousted by the supreme court.

One month later, 16 members of the PLI were unseated from congress by the supreme electoral court for refusing to recognise Montealegre’s replacement, Pedro Reyes. The 16 blame the government for an “orchestrated parliamentary coup”.

A Sandinista splinter group, the Reformed Sandinista Movement (MRS), is urging an election boycott on the grounds that Nicaragua is heading back towards a dictatorship, 35 years after the revolution that ended over four decades of the Samoza dynasty.

WHO IS SHE ANYWAY?

THERE is no doubt that Murillo, a former revolutionary poet, is a major influence on her husband, who first served as president from 1979 to 1990.

She helped him win power again in 2007 with a campaign based on love and peace, which used John Lennon’s Give Peace a Chance as a theme song and swapped the red and black colours of the revolutionary movement for pink and baby blue.

Previously staunch atheists, the couple were married in the Roman Catholic Church after 25 years of living together. Now, every day at noon, she gives a radio and TV address preaching a strange mix of socialism, Christianity and New Age spirituality.

Her “Trees of Life” which adorn the capital Managua are said to be inspired by Genesis 2:9 – “And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden…”

These giant metal creations are festooned with coloured lights, apparently cost £16,000 apiece, and each run up electricity bills of £8,000 a month.

In addition, she is so loyal to her husband that she defended him even when her daughter from her previous marriage alleged Ortega had sexually abused her.

SO IS IT A BAD CHOICE?

ORTEGA, whose health appears to be failing, has brushed off any criticism of his choice of running mate, saying instead that it proves his commitment to equality.

“We talked about who could take on the vice-presidency to carry on the good work of this country’s government,” he said. “It had to be a woman – and who better than our colleague Rosario, who’s gone about her duties with a lot of efficiency, discipline, dedication and commitment?”

He is backed by the former Nicaraguan ambassador to the United Nations, Aldo Diaz Lacayo.

“The opposition would love for Murillo not to exist,” he said. “She is efficient, productive and pivotal in implementing all of the government policies.”

However, others are not convinced, particularly as the couple’s seven children have been awarded top political positions or are in charge of state companies.

“There are no elections in this country,” said Luis Callejas of the PLI. “There are appointments. Now they got what they wanted and what follows is an electoral farce that will perpetuate the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, and leave power only in the hands of the Ortega-Murillo family.”