2008 Paraguayan general election explained

Country:Paraguay
Election Date:20 April 2008
Previous Election:2003 Paraguayan general election
Previous Year:2003
Next Election:2013 Paraguayan general election
Next Year:2013
Turnout:65.48% (1.28pp)
Module:
Embed:yes
Election Name:Presidential election
Image1:Lugo2008.jpg
Colour1:BA55D3
Candidate1:Fernando Lugo
Alliance1:APC
Popular Vote1:764,968
Percentage1:42.40%
Candidate2:Blanca Ovelar
Party2:Colorado Party (Paraguay)
Popular Vote2:540,513
Percentage2:31.75%
Image3:Lino Oviedo.jpg
Candidate3:Lino Oviedo
Party3:National Union of Ethical Citizens
Popular Vote3:386,597
Percentage3:22.74%
President
Before Election:Nicanor Duarte Frutos
Before Party:Colorado Party (Paraguay)
After Election:Fernando Lugo
After Party:Patriotic Alliance for Change
Module:
Embed:yes
Election Name:Parliamentary election
Seats For Election:80 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
45 seats in the Senate
Heading1:Chamber of Deputies (41 seats for a majority)
Leader1:Jose Alberto Alderete
Party1:Colorado Party (Paraguay)
Percentage1:32.96
Last Election1:37
Seats1:30
Leader2:Blas Llano
Party2:Authentic Radical Liberal Party
Percentage2:28.27
Last Election2:21
Seats2:27
Leader3:Enrique Gonzales Quintana
Party3:National Union of Ethical Citizens
Percentage3:18.70
Last Election3:10
Seats3:15
Leader4:Pedro Fadul
Party4:Beloved Fatherland Party
Percentage4:5.77
Last Election4:10
Seats4:7
Party5:Tekojoja People's Movement
Percentage5:3.65
Last Election5:new
Seats5:1
Party6:Progressive Democratic Party (Paraguay)
Percentage6:1.70
Last Election6:new
Seats6:1
Party7:APC
Percentage7:1.32
Last Election7:new
Seats7:2
Colour8:
  1. FF4430
Party8:BDA
Percentage8:0.37
Last Election8:new
Seats8:1
Heading9:Senate (23 seats needed for a majority)
Party9:Colorado Party (Paraguay)
Percentage9:29.07
Last Election9:16
Seats9:15
Party10:Authentic Radical Liberal Party
Percentage10:28.92
Last Election10:12
Seats10:14
Party11:National Union of Ethical Citizens
Percentage11:19.20
Last Election11:7
Seats11:9
Party12:Beloved Fatherland Party
Percentage12:8.66
Last Election12:7
Seats12:4
Party13:Party for a Country of Solidarity
Percentage13:3.47
Last Election13:0
Seats13:1
Party14:Tekojoja People's Movement
Percentage14:2.98
Last Election14:new
Seats14:1
Party15:Progressive Democratic Party (Paraguay)
Percentage15:2.19
Last Election15:new
Seats15:1

General elections were held in Paraguay on 20 April 2008.[1] Elections were held for the presidency, 45 senators, 80 representatives, 17 governors and Paraguay's members in the Mercosur Parliament.[2]

The presidential election was won by opposition candidate Fernando Lugo of the Patriotic Alliance for Change, who defeated Blanca Ovelar of the long-ruling Colorado Party.[3] The Colorado Party remained the largest in both houses of Congress despite losing several seats.

The election ended a 61-year hold on the presidency by the Colorados. The Colorados had held the presidency without interruption since 1947 (from 1947 to 1962 as the de jure sole legal party, and from 1962 to 1989 as the de facto sole legal party). Additionally, when Lugo took office on 15 August, it marked the first time since Paraguay gained independence in 1813 that an incumbent government peacefully transferred power to an elected member of the opposition.

Presidential candidates and campaigning

The following candidates ran for president:

The incumbent president, Nicanor Duarte Frutos, was barred by the Constitution from running for reelection and instead supported his education secretary, Blanca Ovelar. Initial results in the Colorado Party's December 2007 primary showed Ovelar defeating former Vice President Luis Castiglioni,[4] but the result was disputed, leading to a recount.[5] On 21 January 2008, the Colorado Party electoral commission announced that Ovelar had won with 45.04% of the vote against 44.5% for Castiglioni, although Castiglioni continued to claim victory, alleging that 30,000 votes in his favor were "stolen", and said that he would take the matter to court. Ovelar said that her campaign would shift its focus from the "cruel primary campaign" to the general election and that her platform prioritized "fight against poverty and to the creation of jobs".[6]

Lugo is a former bishop who resigned from the priesthood in December 2006 in preparation for his presidential bid. As a priest, he required a permit from the Vatican to become directly involved in politics prior to 2006.[7] However, the Paraguayan constitution prohibits ministers of any faith from standing as a political candidate. Despite his resignation, the Vatican regards priesthood as a lifelong commitment but has suspended him from his duties.[8]

As bishop of San Pedro, a poor region, for ten years beginning in 1994, his support for landless peasants earned him a reputation as "the bishop of the poor". He is an advocate of land reform and other measures to address poverty, but has distanced himself from leftists such as Hugo Chávez and Evo Morales, saying that he is not left-wing or right-wing but "in the middle". He vowed to end the Colorado Party's 61 year rule, fight corruption, and make Paraguay "a new country".[9] According to Lugo, he believes "in the people's self-determination and in recovering sovereignty and independence". Lugo is backed by the Patriotic Alliance for Change (APC), which includes both left and right wing groups, notably the conservative Authentic Radical Liberal Party. President Duarte caused controversy just before the election by telling the Ultima Hora newspaper that Lugo "probably sells himself" for money from Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador.[10]

Ovelar, the Colorado candidate, said that she knew "what the people need and what has to be done". She said that she would focus on job creation and the strengthening of agricultural cooperatives, hoping to reduce the number of Paraguayans who emigrate for economic reasons.[9] According to Ovelar, Paraguay has "new needs that were not obvious before ... and they require the touch of a woman". If elected, Ovelar would have been Paraguay's first female president.[10]

Lino Oviedo's conviction for 1996 mutiny was overturned by the Supreme Court in October 2007, leaving him free to run for president.[11] [12] In January 2008 he was nominated as the candidate of his party, the National Union of Ethical Citizens, without opposition.

Ovelar held her last campaign rally in Asuncion on 16 April. Along with Oviedo and Fadul, she participated in a last televised debate in the early afternoon of 17 April; Lugo did not participate, and Ovelar criticized him for this. Lugo held his last rally in Asuncion later that night, with about 15,000 supporters present.[9]

Opinion polls

A poll from September 2007 saw a three-way race develop between Lugo, Oviedo and the ANR-PC candidate.[13]

A poll from November 2007 saw Lugo lead with over 40%, with Oviedo in second place and Castiglioni or Ovelar (it was still undetermined which of the pair would run) in third place.[14]

A poll from March 2008 saw two way developing with Lugo in the lead with 31%, Ovelar in second place with 27% and Oviedo in third place with 24%.[15] A poll from 5 April 2008 saw Lugo and Ovelar in a statistical dead heat with Lugo in the lead with 30.9%, Ovelar in second with 30.1%, and Oviedo in third with 21.4%. More than 10% remained undecided.[16]

Results

Shortly after the election, with results from 13,000 of 14,000 polling stations counted, Lugo had 41% of the vote against 31% for Ovelar and 22% for Oviedo. Lugo's supporters celebrated in the streets of Asuncion, and he declared that "today we've written a new chapter in our nation's political history". Ovelar conceded defeat, acknowledging that Lugo's lead was unassailable.[3] A couple of hours later, President Nicanor Duarte Frutos appeared at a press conference somberly but remarked that for the first time in the history of Paraguay a handover to the opposition will take place peacefully and in an orderly fashion.[17]

In the gubernatorial election, the ANR won nine departments, the PLRA seven and the APC one.[18]

In August, shortly before taking office, Lugo struck a deal with Oviedo, enabling him to govern with a parliamentary majority. Together, the Authentic Liberal Radical Party and National Union for Ethical Citizens will hold 25 out of 45 Senate seats and 44 out of 80 House of Representatives seats.[19]

Lugo was sworn in as president on 15 August 2008.[20]

Senate

Notes and References

  1. http://www.lukor.com/not-mun/america/0705/25220446.htm "Paraguay.- Convocan en Paraguay elecciones generales para el mes de abril de 2008"
  2. Web site: OAS mission highlights Paraguayan voters great participation – People's Daily Online. en.people.cn. 19 April 2021. 21 April 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210421152204/http://en.people.cn/90001/90777/90856/6395987.html. dead.
  3. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/08DD092B-1D22-4E63-A95E-B43AC626DE2F.htm "Opposition wins Paraguay polls"
  4. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/17/america/LA-POL-Paraguay-Election.php "Woman leads Paraguay ruling party's presidential primary"
  5. http://www.chinapost.com.tw/news/2008/01/14/139039/Once-jailed-Paraguayan.htm "Once-jailed Paraguayan army chief nominated for opposition run for president"
  6. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/01/22/news/Paraguay-Presidential-Race.php "Paraguay nominates first woman for president, ruling party schism threatens bid"
  7. Web site: Polls & Research: Lugo-Oviedo is Preferred Ticket in Paraguay. Angus Reid Global Monitor. 17 December 2006. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100823113706/http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/14124. 23 August 2010.
  8. Web site: Paraguay election: Key candidates. James Painter. 17 April 2008 . BBC News . 3 January 2010.
  9. Bill Cormier, "Paraguay ex-bishop holds final rally", Associated Press, 18 April 2008.
  10. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A30DEB57-3D42-477A-B8C9-9769BE06944B.htm "Paraguayans head to the polls"
  11. Web site: Paraguay's Oviedo Cleared to Run for Presidency, Nacion Says. Faries. Bill. 11 February 2015. Bloomberg. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150211235823/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aCLjZZ_dRsBM&refer=latin_america. 11 February 2015. 17 April 2020.
  12. Web site: Lino Oviedo: Politician who helped lead the 1989 coup in Paraguay. 15 February 2013. The Independent. en. live. 17 April 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20130324154355/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/lino-oviedo-politician-who-helped-lead-the-1989-coup-in-paraguay-8497542.html . 24 March 2013 .
  13. http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/28292/oviedo_becomes_new_favourite_in_paraguay "Oviedo Becomes New Favourite in Paraguay"
  14. http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/29096/lugo_leads_all_in_paraguays_presidential_race "Lugo Leads All in Paraguay’s Presidential Race"
  15. Web site: Lugo Ahead of Ovelar and Oviedo in Paraguay: Angus Reid Global Monitor . 26 March 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080421093812/http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/30256/lugo_ahead_of_ovelar_and_oviedo_in_paraguay/ . 21 April 2008 ., Angus Reid, 26 March 2008.
  16. Web site: Lugo Barely Ahead as Paraguay Vote Looms: Angus Reid Global Monitor. https://web.archive.org/web/20080409080258/http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/30365/lugo_barely_ahead_as_paraguay_vote_looms. dead. 9 April 2008.
  17. Web site: Nicanor reconoce la derrota del Partido Colorado. ultimahora.com.
  18. Web site: Archived copy . 12 May 2008 . 25 August 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080825141909/http://www.abc.com.py/fotos/2008/05/03/080503230641243.jpg . dead .
  19. Pedro Servin, "Paraguay prez-elect makes deals for majority", Associated Press, 13 August 2008.
  20. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hqFLYrBs7ry_miqB_KSjyiqy2J_Q "Latin America's leftwing swells with new Paraguay president"