1989 Paraguayan general election
Early general elections were held in Paraguay on 1 May 1989 to elect the president and Chamber of Deputies.[1] They were the first held since longtime president Alfredo Stroessner was toppled in a military coup on 3 February, seven months after being sworn in for an eighth term. For the first time in several years, the opposition was allowed to contest the elections more or less unmolested; the Communists were the only party that was banned from taking part.[2][3]
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Presidential election | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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All 72 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 37 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Andrés Rodríguez, who had led the coup and had been serving as provisional president since then, was elected president in his own right[3][2] running on the Colorado Party ticket. The Colorado Party also won 48 of the 72 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. Voter turnout was 52%.
The legislative elections were called after Rodríguez dissolved the previous Congress in February, citing a provision of the constitution that allowed the president to do so if they felt Congress had acted in a manner that distorted the separation of powers. Rodríguez used the new elections as a tool to purge pro-Stroessner "militants" from the Colorado caucus. The presidential elections were held because the constitution required new elections if a president died, resigned, or was permanently disabled less than two years into their term. That same provision stipulated that the winner would not serve a full five-year term, but only the remainder of the previous president's term.[3] In this case, Rodríguez won the right to serve the remainder of Stroessner's term, which was due to end in 1993.
Results
President
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Andrés Rodríguez | Colorado Party | 882,957 | 76.59 | |
Domingo Laíno | Authentic Radical Liberal Party | 241,829 | 20.98 | |
Fernando Antonio Vera Sánchez | Revolutionary Febrerista Party | 11,007 | 0.95 | |
Secundino Núñez Medina | Christian Democratic Party | 8,032 | 0.70 | |
Carlos Ferreira Ibarra | Liberal Party | 4,423 | 0.38 | |
Blas Manuel Mangabeira | Unified Radical Liberal Party | 3,545 | 0.31 | |
Carlos Gustavo Callizo Parini | Paraguayan Humanist Party | 1,058 | 0.09 | |
Total | 1,152,851 | 100.00 | ||
Valid votes | 1,152,851 | 99.04 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 11,197 | 0.96 | ||
Total votes | 1,164,048 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 2,226,061 | 52.29 | ||
Source: Justicia Electoral |
Chamber of Deputies
Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Colorado Party | 845,820 | 74.47 | 48 | +8 | |
Authentic Radical Liberal Party | 229,329 | 20.19 | 21 | New | |
Revolutionary Febrerista Party | 23,815 | 2.10 | 2 | New | |
Radical Liberal Party | 15,083 | 1.33 | 1 | –12 | |
Christian Democratic Party | 11,674 | 1.03 | 0 | New | |
Liberal Party | 5,544 | 0.49 | 0 | –7 | |
Unified Radical Liberal Party | 3,476 | 0.31 | 0 | New | |
Paraguayan Humanist Party | 1,069 | 0.09 | 0 | New | |
Total | 1,135,810 | 100.00 | 72 | +12 | |
Valid votes | 1,135,810 | 98.10 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 21,971 | 1.90 | |||
Total votes | 1,157,781 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 2,226,061 | 52.01 | |||
Source: Nohlen |
References
- Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II, p425 ISBN 978-0-19-928358-3
- Nohlen, p416
- History Library of Congress Country Studies