PRELIMINARY RESULTS - SENATE AND GUBERNATORIAL

UNCLAS ASUNCION 000268 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS WHA/BSC KBEAMER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PA SUBJECT: PRELIMINARY RESULTS - SENATE AND GUBERNATORIAL RACES ¶1. (U) As of April 21, the preliminary results for the Paraguayan Senate show the Colorado Party maintaining its current total of 16 out of 45 possible senators. The Liberal Party (PLRA),part of Fernando Lugo's Patriotic Alliance for Change (APC),is projected to win 13 senators; other members of the APC (Country of Solidarity, Tekojoja Movement, and PMAS) may win an additional one seat each. The third largest block of Senate seats may go to Lino Oviedo's National Union of Ethical Citizens party (UNACE) with nine senators, followed by Pedro Fadul's Beloved Fatherland (PQ) party with four. ¶2. (U) Regarding the departmental governors race, preliminary results show the Colorados ahead in 10 out of 17 departments. The Colorados, however, are losing the departments of San Pedro, Boquern, Misiones, and Caaguaz, traditional strongholds of the party, to the PRLA. The PLRA party is winning in six departments and the APC party in one. ¶3. (SBU) COMMENT: If the preliminary results for the Senate are confirmed, the opposition will have 29 out of 45 senators, almost double the number of Colorado senators. The Senate seat distribution, as it stands now, raises the profile of UNACE's nine senators, as both the Colorados and Liberals will need to seek their support for key legislation. Colorados have traditionally won the majority of governorships, but this time, the Colorado governors will be weak without executive branch support, as they depend on the president for allocation of the majority of their economic resources. END COMMENT. Please visit us at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/asuncion CASON