PARAGUAY: PARTIES PREPARING FOR GENERAL ELECTIONS.
The governing Asociacion Nacional Republicana (ANR, Partido Colorado), in power since 1947, is fighting to keep its hold on power in the April 27 presidential elections. Meanwhile, the Senate has begun impeachment proceedings against President Luis Gonzalez Macchi.
Paraguayans will go to the polls April 27 to choose a president, vice president, 17 governors, the departmental councils, and the bicameral Congress.
The Colorado candidate, Nicanor Duarte Frutos, can count on extensive organizational resources of the party, which has developed a disciplined and loyal base, in his efforts to win the election. He has just three months to consolidate his image, erase any possible negative backlash from association with the questioned government of Gonzalez Macchi, and build on his base of 1.5 million party members before voters head to the polls.
"While the chaotic situation in Paraguay is attributed principally to the Partido Colorado's leadership and presence in the government, it is also true that the party maintains its standing through a disciplined and fanatical electorate," said political analyst and journalist Carlos Martini.
Martini also said that, when the stakes are high, the Colorados usually are able to unite, even if briefly, and the opposition will have to forge important alliances "if it wants to defeat this colossus."
The electoral process began Dec. 15 with the primaries for the Partido Liberal Radical Autentico (PLRA), which elected Julio Cesar Franco, and the Partido Encuentro Nacional (PEN), allied with the government and formerly the third- largest political group in the country, which elected former minister of justice and labor Diego Abente Brun.
The Partido Colorado elected Nicanor Duarte Frutos Dec. 22 in a contest fraught with charges of fraud and where the official count was not known until Jan. 6. Duarte Frutos, former minister of education and culture in the governments of Juan Carlos Wasmosy (1993-1998) and President Gonzales Macchi, defeated seven other aspirants for the Colorado nomination.
Osvaldo Dominguez Dibb, who came in second, threatened to go to court alleging fraud in the primary. On Jan. 10, Dominguez urged his followers to get rid of the government by force after the electoral officials declared him the loser in the primary.
Dominguez Dibb said the Movimiento de Reconciliacion Colorado (MRC) faction, led by Frutos, fabricated the voting results. Dominguez, who led the Coordinadora Colorada Campesina (CCC)...
Para continuar leyendo
Solicita tu pruebaCOPYRIGHT GALE, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
