Asuncion, Paraguay – Paraguay’s Congress rejected a motion Tuesday to impeach President Nicanor Duarte for making official his candidacy for presidency of the Colorado Party, in power since 1947.
The motion proposed by the opposition on grounds of malfeasance, was rejected with 39 votes in favor, 37 against and 4 abstentions. A two-thirds majority of the 80 representatives was necessary for the impeachment process to prosper.
Although opposition leaders had admitted they lacked the support necessary for approval, the plea was introduced last week by the Beloved Homeland Party (PPQ), third largest political group in the country, arguing that the constitution prohibits the head of state from simultaneously discharging any other office.
“The fact that a (simple) majority in Congress censures his decision is a strong indication of what the great majority of citizens also think,” said opposition Congressman Rafael Filizzola. Benjamin Maciel of the governing party disagreed, considering the result “a defeat for the opposition.”
The outcome was also supported by the main opposition group, the True Radical Liberal Party (PLRA), as well as by representatives of the National Union of Ethical Citizens Party led by ex-Gen. Lino Oviedo, now serving a 10-year sentence in military prison for an attempted coup in 1996.
The opposition says that Duarte’s candidacy violates Article 237 of the Constitution, which forbids the president of the republic from undertaking any other public or private office, whether remunerated or not.
Duarte now has the way free to put his political campaign in high gear with a view to the party’s internal elections set for February 19, an occasion when the “Colorados” will shake up their board of directors and rank-and-file organizations.
In the internal voting, Duarte’s principal opponent will be entrepreneur and former sports director Osvaldo Dominguez Dibb, a favorite of conservatives and nostalgic admirers of the Alfredo Stroessner dictatorship (1954-89).
