How does Nicaragua’s National Assembly represent voters?

Nicaragua functions as a unitary multiparty republic with a unicameral legislative body known as the National Assembly. The assembly represents voters through a proportional representation system, where members are elected to serve five-year terms that run concurrently with the presidential term.123

While the majority of the assembly is determined by this electoral process, there are two specific exceptions to the standard proportional representation: one seat is reserved for the immediate past president, and another is reserved for the runner-up of the most recent presidential election. Citizens aged 16 and older participate in this political process through universal suffrage.3