1993 Paraguayan general election

General elections were held in Paraguay on 9 May 1993.[1] They were the first free elections in the country's 182-year history,[2] the first with no military candidates since 1928,[3] and the first since the adoption of a new constitution the previous summer. The presidential election was the first regular presidential election since the overthrow of longtime leader Alfredo Stroessner in 1989; incumbent Andrés Rodríguez was in office by virtue of winning a special election for the remainder of Stroessner's eighth term.

1993 Paraguayan general election
9 May 1993
Presidential election
 
Candidate Juan Carlos Wasmosy Domingo Laíno Guillermo Caballero Vargas
Party Colorado PLRA PEN
Popular vote 449,505 357,164 262,407
Percentage 41.78% 33.20% 24.39%
President before election

Andrés Rodríguez
Colorado

 President-elect

Juan Carlos Wasmosy
Colorado

Parliamentary election
80 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
45 seats in the Senate
PartyLeader % Seats +/–
Chamber of Deputies (41 seats for a majority)
Colorado Juan Carlos Wasmosy 43.41 38 -10
PLRA Domingo Laíno 36.82 33 +12
PEN Guillermo Caballero Vargas 17.70 9 New
Senate (23 seats needed for a majority)
Colorado 44.05 20 0
PLRA 36.20 17 New
PEN 17.95 8 New
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Rodríguez had promised not to run for re-election for a full term, and was prevented from doing so by the new constitution, which barred a sitting president from re-election even if they had only served a partial term.[4] Juan Carlos Wasmosy of the Colorado Party won the presidential election with 41.8 percent of the vote. He took office on 15 August, becoming the first civilian to hold the post in 39 years.

The Colorado Party remained the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, but lost the absolute majority it had held since 1963. The opposition Authentic Radical Liberal Party and National Encounter Party together held a majority of the seats in both chambers, later supplemented by the Colorado Reconciliation Movement, which broke away from the Colorado Party.[5] Voter turnout was 69.0% in the presidential elections, 67.6% in the Chamber elections and 69.4% in the Senate elections.[6]

Conduct

The elections were not entirely peaceful. On election day, an opposition television channel was raked by gunfire, and government officials cut the phone lines of opposition parties and independent election monitors. However, the phone lines were restored after intervention from Jimmy Carter.[7] Despite confirmed cases of fraud, independent analysts concluded that the fraudulent activity had no effect on the outcome, and that Wasmosy's eight-point margin of victory was large enough to offset any illicit activity. Carter's team of international observers noted that opposition candidates tallied almost 60 percent of the vote between them.[2]

Previously, there had been only two years of liberal democracy in Paraguay before the 1989 coup. For much of that time, opposition had been barely tolerated, even when it was nominally legal. Even after Stroessner lifted a three-decade state of siege in 1987, opposition parties and newspapers continued to be suppressed, often brutally.[8] In this climate, Stroessner had won all six of his contested bids for president (he appeared alone on the ballot in 1954 and 1958) with 70 percent or more of the vote, only dropping below 80 percent once.

Results

President
CandidatePartyVotes%
Juan Carlos WasmosyColorado Party449,50541.78
Domingo LaínoAuthentic Radical Liberal Party357,16433.20
Guillermo Caballero VargasNational Encounter Party262,40724.39
Ricardo Nicolás Canese KrivosheinSocial Democratic Coalition (PDC–PHP)1,6010.15
Eduardo María Arce SchaererWorkers' Party1,5360.14
Joel Atilio CazalBroad Movement National Participation1,1040.10
Leandro Jesus Prieto YegrosSocial Political Movement Progressive1,0870.10
Abraham Zapag BazasLiberal Party8810.08
Gustavo Bader IbáñezSocialist National Party6550.06
Total1,075,940100.00
Valid votes1,075,94091.18
Invalid/blank votes104,1428.82
Total votes1,180,082100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,698,98469.46
Source: Justicia Electoral

Senate
PartyVotes%Seats
Colorado Party498,58644.0520
Authentic Radical Liberal Party409,72836.2017
National Encounter Party203,21317.958
Other parties20,4111.800
Total1,131,938100.0045
Valid votes1,131,93896.05
Invalid/blank votes46,5043.95
Total votes1,178,442100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,698,98469.36
Source: Nohlen

Chamber of Deputies
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Colorado Party488,34243.4138–10
Authentic Radical Liberal Party414,20836.8233+12
National Encounter Party199,05317.709New
Other parties[lower-alpha 1]23,2752.070–
Total1,124,878100.0080+8
Valid votes1,124,87896.01
Invalid/blank votes46,8053.99
Total votes1,171,683100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,698,98468.96
Source: Nohlen

Notes
  1. Included the Workers' Party, the Social Democratic Coalition (PDC–PHP), the Liberal Party, the MAPN, MPSP and PNS.

References
  1. Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II, p425 ISBN 978-0-19-928358-3
  2. James Brooke (April 11, 1993). "Governing Party Wins Paraguay Presidential Vote". The New York Times.
  3. Nohlen, p420
  4. Cesar Insfran (June 20, 1992). "Paraguay celebrates new constitution". United Press International.
  5. Nohlen, p417
  6. Nohlen, pp426-432
  7. "Dirty Democracy in Paraguay". The New York Times. May 14, 1993.
  8. History Library of Congress Country Studies
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