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After the denunciations of “electoral fraud” by the former presidential candidate Paraguayo Cubas, a group of followers of the right-wing politician expressed their discontent with the victory of the pro-government candidate Santiago Peña in the vicinity of the Superior Court of Electoral Justice (TSJE). The authorities reported that some 80 people were detained in the midst of the demonstrations.
The Paraguayan authorities reported demonstrations in 60 different points of the national territory, with Asunción, the capital, hosting the most massive concentrations. The protesters closed the main streets of the capital on May 1, burned posters of the president-elect and threw stones at the police forces that protected the TSJE.
“We are already calm, with peace of mind, so that citizens can carry out their normal activities, both educational and labor institutions as well,” said the commander of the Paraguayan National Police, Gilberto Fleitas, for the EFE agency on Tuesday.
Prior to the demonstrations of his followers, Paraguayo Cubas called from his Instagram account for massive demonstrations against the results that gave the Colorado Party candidate, Santiago Peña, the winner with 43% of the votes.
“We are not satisfied. They have stolen our elections. It’s that simple,” accused Yolanda Paredes, senator-elect and wife of Cubas, without evidence.
Other candidates add to the doubts about the final result
To the allegations of Cubas, now the third political force in the country with 23% of the vote, were added the comments of also former presidential candidate Efraín Alegre, who came in second place with 27% of the vote.
Through a post on Twitter, Alegre asked the TSJE to carry out a manual count of “10% of the tables randomly chosen in each polling station throughout the country”, in addition, he demanded international scrutiny of the software used for the automatic count. of the votes
Before the numerous complaints filed in relation to yesterday’s elections, we demand that the TSJE: [HILO]
1. That IMMEDIATELY carry out the manual count of 10% of the polling stations chosen at random in each polling station throughout the country.
— Efrain Alegre (@EfrainAlegre) May 2, 2023
Similarly, the former Paraguayan foreign minister who came in fourth in Sunday’s elections, Euclides Acevedo, echoed Alegre’s requests and denounced “inconsistencies in the projected results” by the Court.
With 99% of the polling stations accounted for, Santiago Peña prevailed in the presidential elections with approximately 1,292,079 votes. In addition, the Colorado Party also won a majority in the Paraguayan Senate and 15 of the 17 governorships in the country.
So far, the envoys of the OAS and the European Union to observe the electoral process in Paraguay have not denounced irregularities in the presidential elections.
With Reuters and EFE
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