“Introducing Paraguay’s New President: Santiago Pena”
Santiago Pena, the candidate of the conservative Colorado Party, has won the one-round presidential election in Paraguay with 43.5 percent of the votes, according to the Paraguay Electoral Court. After 85 percent of the ballot boxes were opened, Efrain Alegre, the candidate of the opposition centre-left alliance, who took the second place, received 27.58 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, Paraguayo Cubas, the candidate of the National Crusader Party, unexpectedly took 22.18 percent of the vote in the election.
The first congratulations to Santiago Pena, the winner of the election, came from Mario Abdo Benitez, the current president of Paraguay, also a member of the Colorado Party. Argentine President Alberto Fernandez and Brazilian President Lius Inacio Lula da Silva also congratulated Pena.
In his speech as the new president of Paraguay, Santiago Pena promised to remove the fatalism that many Paraguayans have fallen into and said that from tomorrow he will start designing the Paraguay that everyone wants. While turnout reached 59.75 percent, it was reported that the elections were generally peaceful and 5 election crime complaints were recorded throughout the country during the day.
Paraguay has a history of candidates from the Colorado Party winning the presidential elections since 1946, with the exception of 2008 and 2013. However, many will be watching to see if Pena can fulfil his promises to address the concerns of the Paraguayan people and take the country forward.
