The National Assembly of Nicaragua held a special meeting on Thursday to form a new Board of Directors, and the Liberal Constitutionalist Party was proclaimed the winner.

Two legislators in the majority liberal party, Carlos Noguera and Wilfredo Navarro, were elected as the Assembly's president and the first vice-president.

The Board of Directors consists of seven members. The result of the Thursday's meeting was that the liberal party got three seats, an alliance formed by elements in the liberal party and the conservative party got three, and a third party, Camino Cristiano Nicaraguense, got the last seat.

The 38 legislators of the nation's main opposition Sandinist National Liberation Front (SNLF) quit the meeting soon after it opened, protesting that American officials were manipulating the election behind scenes, former First Vice-President Rene Nunez, who is an SNLF member, claimed.

New President Noguera denied reports of American involvement. He told a news conference after the meeting that US ambassador to Nicaragua Barbara Moore had facilitated the negotiations among the democratic parties.

(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2004)