Weekly Report - 22 November 2007 (INNS 1741-7422)

In what the local daily, La Prensa, described as President Daniel Ortega's biggest political defeat of the year, congress voted against the citizen power councils (CPCs) on 20 November. As well as the defeat in itself, the result also suggests that the alliance between the liberals is finally gaining ground and a possible weakening of the pact between the ruling Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) and the opposition party, the Partido Liberal Constitucionalista (PLC) - or more specifically between Ortega and former president Arnoldo Alemán, the unofficial leader of the PLC.