The Group of American States, in addition to Paraguay officers, have affirmed the legitimacy of Sunday’s vote.
A world physique charged with overseeing democracy and human rights within the Americas has affirmed that there’s “no cause to query the outcomes” of Sunday’s presidential election in Paraguay, the place protests have damaged out in help of the third-place candidate.
The Group of American States (OAS) issued a press release on Tuesday saying it “didn’t observe severe incidents” or “interruptions within the processing of delicate electoral data”, nor did it discover any deficiencies within the dealing with of election materials.
As a substitute, it known as “for all complaints and disagreements concerning the electoral course of to be processed by way of institutional channels in accordance with the regulation and in a peaceable method”.
The OAS assertion got here within the wake of protests within the capital of Asunción and elsewhere, after right-wing candidate Santiago Peña handily received the presidency on behalf of the long-ruling Colorado Get together, securing practically 43 p.c of the vote.
His centre-left rival Efraín Alegre acquired 27.5 p.c of the votes, adopted by right-wing populist Paraguayo Cubas, with 23 p.c.
Supporters of Cubas, nevertheless, took to the road to contest the election outcomes, alleging fraud.
Outdoors the electoral court docket in Asunción, protesters lobbed rocks, and police responded with rubber bullets. Different demonstrators defaced billboards supporting Peña or burned tyres to dam roadways. A lot of the blockades, nevertheless, have been eliminated by Tuesday morning.
Cubas himself posted on social media, sharing a photograph of distinguished figures within the Colorado Get together and calling them “thieves”. He then cited a stretch of Paraguay’s structure, calling on residents to “resist” so-called “usurpers”, although he has not cited proof or filed an official grievance of electoral fraud.
“We’re not glad. The elections have been stolen from us. It’s that straightforward,” Cubas’s spouse, Senator-elect Yolanda Paredes, advised reporters.
Alegre, the second-place finisher, additionally took to social media on Monday to name for a partial handbook recount to confirm the vote, in addition to an impartial worldwide audit.
“We stay ATTENTIVE AND MOBILIZED,” Alegre wrote on Twitter. “The validity and legitimacy of the proclamation of the outcomes is determined by the adoption of those measures to make sure that they faithfully replicate the favored will.”
Peña is ready to be sworn in on August 15. A 44-year-old economist, Peña will develop into Paraguay’s youngest president since earlier than 1989, when a coup d’etat ended the 34-year rule of Alfredo Stroessner, resulting in democratic reforms.
However his election continues a string of victories for the conservative Colorado Get together, which has led Paraguay for a lot of the previous 80 years. Peña is broadly seen as a protégé of occasion chief Horacio Cartes, a businessman and former president who has confronted United States sanctions for corruption.
In a Twitter submit on Tuesday, Peña emphasised the necessity for a peaceable transition of energy. “Our precedence will probably be for this course of to be harmonious and calm,” he wrote.
On Tuesday, officers in Paraguay reiterated that Sunday’s election was performed precisely.
“There isn’t any risk of fraud,” electoral tribunal spokesman Carlos Ljubetic advised reporters. “The outcomes of the election are the expression of the citizenry, whether or not we prefer it or not.”
