The traditional two-party system, comprising the Sandinistas and the self-proclaimed Democratic Forces (anti-Sandinistas), has endured over the years.

[6] The electoral reforms introduced in January 2000, as a result of the pact between the PLC and the FSLN, established new rules for the contending parties in the elections.

The electoral law states that a participating candidate must obtain a relative majority of at least 40 percent of the vote to win a presidential election.

The Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) barred him from running for the presidency on the grounds that he had Costa Rican nationality.

[12] In 1997, under the government of Arnoldo Alemán, Rizo was appointed president of the Nicaraguan Institute for Municipal Development (INIFOM).

[16] In late August 2005, Eduardo Montealegre, the ALN's presidential candidate, invited Alvarado to join him as his vice-president.

Montealgre's adversaries have criticized him for his involvement in the CENI bond operation – now a substantial part of the domestic debt – after several banks got into financial problems due to fraudulent practices over the course of 1999–2001.

Ortega, general secretary of the Sandinista National Liberation Front, was President of Nicaragua from 1985 to 1990 and presidential candidate of the FSLN in 1990, 1996, 2001, and 2006.

He took over as presidential candidate after the initial nominee, Herty Lewites, died suddenly of a heart attack on 3 July 2006.

[25] Jarquín founded in 1974, together with Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, editor of newspaper La Prensa, the Democratic Liberation Union (UDEL) in the struggle against the Somoza regime.

Jarquín worked as an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) official from 1992 to 2005 when he resigned and joined the MRS electoral alliance.

[27] The Alternative for Change (Spanish: Alternativa por el Cambio – AC) was part of the MRS Alliance for a few months, but decided to go alone to the elections with presidential candidate Edén Pastora.

Lewites had announced that he planned a march to the site of the event with his followers in support of his running against Daniel Ortega for the candidacy.

Some 200 meters from the gates of the “Olofito” convention center where the Sandinista Assembly was meeting, they were stopped by a larger pro-Ortega demonstration.

In the Assembly, the official leadership responded by expelling Herty Lewites and his campaign chief Víctor Hugo Tinoco from the party.

"[30] Pro-Ortega legislators are running for reelection together with cadres from the party structures and a few political figures from what is left of the FSLN's Convergence alliance, such as Social Christian Agustín Jarquín, Conservative Miriam Argüello and Liberal Julia Mena, all former opponents of Ortega.

[31][32] The ALN held also primary elections, but gave preference to unelected candidates, among them some of their allies in APRE, PC and the PRN.

Both the two major anti-pact forces (ALN and MRS), and more recently, the PLC candidate, Rizo, made public their intentions to dismantle the pact.

[34] Truth is that a "qualified majority" of 2/3 in the National Assembly is needed to revert the 2000 reforms and this is not likely to happen according to the latest polls.

[35] In late August, the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) candidate Edmundo Jarquín stated that he supported therapeutic abortion when the life of the mother is at risk.

The FSLN, which has an important relationship with former Managua Archbishop Miguel Obando, stated in general that they opposed abortion and were pro-life.

[36] The Catholic Church organised a march on the National Assembly on 6 October to demand that therapeutic abortion be criminalized in the penal code.

[40] In Spanish: U.S. officials have openly opposed Daniel Ortega's and José Rizo's candidacies, and supported Eduardo Montealegre and Sandinista dissident Edmundo Jarquín.

[42][43] According to the Nicaraguan Electoral Law, the parties are forced to report most donations, but only those received from the date of the official opening of the campaign (19 August) to the day of the elections (5 November).

A pre-campaign study carried out by the independent Ethic and Transparency Civic Group between 1 July and 15 August, showed that the FSLN was the party that spent the most money during that period; C$ 7,858,120.

Daniel Ortega refused to take part leaving the "debate" to the remaining four; Eduardo Montealegre, José Rizo, Edmundo Jarquín, and Edén Pastora.

UCA – Sponsored by END, Canal 10, CNC – October, 2006 According to this poll, the FSLN wins in nine departments, four of them with an absolute majority (over 50% of the intended votes).

The Carter Center, an independent observer sent a 62-member delegation and found "the election administration to be adequate, with improvements over past electoral processes.