Nicaragua’s electoral council on Friday disqualified the country’s main opposition party, from upcoming presidential polls, in which it headed an alliance against the reelection of President Daniel Ortega. According to the statement, the president and legal representative of the Citizens Alliance for Liberty (CXL) holds dual United States-Nicaraguan citizenship “in clear violation of the law,” AFP reported. The move is the latest in an escalating political crackdown in the Central American country, with critics accusing Ortega’s government of trying to prevent any meaningful opposition from standing in the November 7 election. Ortega, in power since 2007, is standing for a fourth consecutive term with his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, once again as his running mate. Authorities have already arrested seven presidential hopefuls ahead of the vote. The United States has in recent weeks announced visa restrictions on Nicaraguans linked to Ortega in response to the crackdown. EU has also slapped sanctions on the country and its ruling elites including Ortega’s wife. A former leftist guerrilla, Ortega also governed Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990 when the United States backed armed opposition to his Sandinista movement. Ortega later rebranded himself as a business-friendly pragmatist, but Western nations and the opposition say he is increasingly turning into a dictator, as he seeks a stranglehold on power.