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Montevideo, March 28th 2024 - 23:41 UTC

 

 

Paraguayan elected president pressed to take office.

Sunday, May 4th 2003 - 21:00 UTC
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Paraguayan leaders of the ruling party and the opposition have requested elected president Nicanor Duarte to advance the taking office date and replace outgoing caretaker president Luis González Macchi, who's described as the “negligent president”.

Presidential elections in Paraguay were held April 27 and Mr. Duarte is scheduled to take office August 15, while the new Congress will be sworn in July 1st. But Mr. González Macchi argues that he will be handing the presidential sash next August "because that's a constitutional mandate".

However the current leader of Congress Juan Carlos Galvanera openly stated that "every minute Mr. González Macchi remains in power, his proven inefficiency is nothing but an increased risk for the country".

Mr. Galvanera has proposed that given the ample victory margin of elected president Duarte, 15 points over his runner up, "I believe there's sufficient political consensus to name Mr. Duarte him vice-president and then replace González Macchi in coincidence with the July congressional ceremony".

Opposition leaders have stated that "the president should have left the following day of the election, people have paid too high a price for his irresponsibility".

So far Mr. Duarte has kept silent on the issue and will be meeting president González Macchi next Monday when he will be informed in detail of the current government policies and situation.

Sources close to the elected president office have said that Mr. Duarte first wishes to make an in depth analysis of the current financial situation and then take sometime to prepare "a package of bills and decisions he will be making effective in the first hundred days of his administration".

"Mr. Duarte believes the country needs a shock of confidence building and a strong display of effectiveness", indicated his advisors.

Landlocked Paraguay with a long history of authoritarian governments is virtually bankrupt after successive banking scandals, and faces an imminent technical default since it has been unable to honor its international debt payments.

Categories: Mercosur.

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