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ASUNCION: A former leftist Paraguayan bishop celebrated his historic
electoral triumph Monday after defeating ruling party candidate
Blanca Ovelar in a presidential election and ending 61 years of
conservative Colorado Party rule.
The Electoral Tribunal declared Fernando Lugo
the winner with nearly 41 percent of the vote compared to almost 31
percent for Ovelar, crushing her dream of becoming the South
American country’s first woman president.
“Today we can dream of a different country,”
Lugo, 56, told reporters late Sunday. “Paraguay will simply not be
remembered for its corruption and poverty, but for its honesty.”
Ovelar, whose party has been in power since
1947, conceded defeat before the final results were released.
“I recognize the triumph of Fernando Lugo,”
she said. “We acknowledge with dignity that the results of the
presidential contest are at this point irreversible.”
Another candidate, Lino Oviedo, 64, a retired
army chief who helped stage a coup that ended the 35-year military
dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner (1954 to 1989), trailed far
behind in third place with 22 percent of the vote.
Lugo earlier addressed jubilant supporters of
his leftist Patriotic Alliance for Change coalition at his campaign
headquarters, saying the election showed that “the little people
can also win.”
“You are responsible for the happiness of the
majority of the Paraguayan people today,” he said as supporters
chanted his name.
“This is the Paraguay I dream about, with many
colors, many faces, the Paraguay of everyone,” said Lugo, who was
suspended from his religious order by the Vatican in late 2006 for
his entry into politics.
His supporters began celebrating their
anticipated victory, setting off fireworks even before polls closed.
The Colorado Party has been in power for 61
years, including Stroessner’s rule. Paraguay chose its first
democratically elected president in 1993.
Turnout was a high 65 percent among Paraguay’s
2.9 eligible voters, said Electoral Tribunal Vice President Juan
Manuel Morales, who announced the final results of the elections
when 92 percent of precincts had reported.
-- AFP
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