Ruling party candidate scores big win in Paraguay vote

BLOOMBERG

Santiago Pena, a former finance minister, scored a major victory in Paraguay’s presidential election, as voters gave the ruling Colorado Party a third straight mandate to run the South American country.
Pena, 44, had 43 percent of the vote with more than 98 percent of voting stations counted, according to preliminary results from the electoral court. His main challenger, Efrain Alegre, a former public works minister leading a coalition of leftists and conservatives, conceded after winning about 28 percent of votes.
President elect Pena called on Paraguayans to put aside their differences and work with him to improve living standards.
“We have a lot to do after the recent years of economic stagnation, worrying levels of unemployment and the increase in the poverty rate,” he said in a televised address to supporters. “The task that awaits us isn’t for a single person or party.”
Public opinion surveys had shown a tight race between Alegre and Pena, both of whom held hefty leads over a crowded field of contenders. However, anti-establishment candidate and ex-senator Paraguayo Cubas proved a spoiler for Alegre, taking almost 23% of the vote. The Senate expelled Cubas, who gained notoriety for punching and throwing water at fellow senators, after he assaulted police officers in 2019.
Pena will start his five-year term on August 15, when incumbent President Mario Abdo Benitez of the Colorado Party steps down. Preliminary results also showed the Colorado Party winning a significant share of seats in Congress.