General elections were held in Paraguay on 30 April 2023 to elect the president, vice president, National Congress, and departmental governors.[1] The incumbent president Mario Abdo Benítez and vice president Hugo Velázquez Moreno, both of the Colorado Party, were ineligible for re-election.
The Colorado candidate, former Finance Minister Santiago Peña, defeated both PLRA president Efraín Alegre from the Concertación alliance and former senator Paraguayo Cubas from the populist National Crusade Party. The election marked another victory for the long-dominant Colorado Party, which also won the majority of congressional and governor races.[2] Both Peña and the vice president-elect Pedro Alliana were set to take office on 15 August 2023.
The president of Paraguay is elected in one round of voting by plurality.[3] The 80 members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected by closed list proportional representation in 18 multi-member constituencies, based on the departments.[4] The 45 members of the Senate are elected from a single national constituency using closed list proportional representation.[5]
The campaign issues included Paraguay's relationship with Taiwan, allegations of corruption, and the state of the economy.[2] Santiago Peña was supportive of maintaining ties with Taiwan, whereas Efraín Alegre criticized the country's ties to Taiwan and argued for opening up relations with China.[2]
Peña previously ran in the 2017 Colorado presidential primaries but had lost to Mario Abdo Benítez, who went on to win the 2018 presidential election against Alegre.[11] Peña was an economist at Paraguay's central bank before joining the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. He was described to Reuters as "clean-cut", "decent", and having "good ideas".[11] Peña is a protégé of former president Horacio Cartes, who has been sanctioned by the United States due to being "significantly corrupt".[12][13] Peña pledged to pursue "business friendly" policies, including a focus on job creation, low taxation, and attracting foreign investment into the country.[11] Peña stated he would preserve relations with Taiwan and would move the country's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,[11] a move previously made by Cartes in 2018, but reversed by Abdo Benítez later that year.[14]
Alegre previously ran for president in the 2013 and 2018 general elections. He campaigned by criticizing the Colorado Party and accusing them of corruption.[15] Alegre pledged to reassess the country's relationship with Taiwan, with a preference towards establishing diplomatic ties with China, with the goal of Paraguay gaining access to China's market for cattle and soy.[15] Alegre pledged to cut public sector red tape and proposed a "new energy policy" with a focus on the Itaipu Dam and Yacyretá Dams (shared with Brazil and Argentina respectively), stating that Paraguay should utilize the energy generated for national development, rather than sell the power.[15]
Populist, anti-establishment candidate Paraguayo "Payo" Cubas is a former senator,[16] who described himself as a "romantic, republican and nationalist anarchist".[16] Cubas was expelled from the Senate on 28 November 2019 following an incident in Alto Paraná Department that included the assault of police officers, damage to public property and calling for the killing of "100,000 brasiguayos", Paraguayans of Brazilian descent, leading to his impeachment from the senate.[17][18][19] He campaigned to introduce the death penalty in specific cases, such as femicide, child rape, drug trafficking, parricide, murder in cases of robbery, and stealing from the Treasury, which would require a modification to Paraguay's constitution.[20] Cubas proposed involving the Armed Forces of Paraguay in the government, and expanding the powers of the president over those of the parliament, describing the latter as a "den of thugs".[20] Cubas has been likened by Leandro Lima of Control Risks to other right-wing populist figures from the Americas, including Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro, and Javier Milei.[16][21]
The presidential election was won by Santiago Peña of the Colorado Party.[33][34]
The following table shows the distribution of seats in the Senate.[35] The status of at least one seat remains in doubt, however, as Rafael "Mbururú" Esquivel, elected for the National Crusade Party, was arrested and charged with child sexual abuse just before the elections.[36][37]
The following table shows the distribution of seats in the Chamber of Deputies.[38]
Peña was congratulated by outgoing president Mario Abdo Benítez, and presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Alberto Fernández of Brazil and Argentina, respectively.[2] Peña also received congratulations from the Taiwanese ambassador in Asunción on behalf of Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen.[2] Both Peña and his running mate Pedro Alliana were sworn in on 15 August 2023. At the age of 44, he will become the country's youngest president since the restoration of democracy in 1989, surpassing Abdo Benítez's record, who was 46 years old when he became president in 2018.[13]
Cubas made allegations of electoral fraud, leading to protests by his supporters.[21] He dubbed members of the Colorado Party "thieves" and called on citizens to resist the "usurpers".[13] Election observers from the Organization of American States stated there was "no reason to doubt" the results of the election.[21][13] Protesters set up roadblocks and clashed with police, resulting in 70 arrests following protests outside of the electoral court in Asunción.[21][13] Alegre, who had conceded the election, called for a manual recount of votes and an international audit following the nationwide protests.[21][13] On 5 May, Cubas was arrested in San Lorenzo, accused of breaching the peace.[39]