The Superior Court of Electoral Justice (TSJE) through Agreement and Judgment No. 8/2022 recognized the political organization “National Agreement for a New Paraguay” and also approved the use of the open register in the upcoming internal elections on December 18.
With the votes in favor of the ministers Jorge Bogarin and César Rossel, the agreement received the green light with a view to concretizing its political pretensions, this after several claims and a permanent vigil that was installed outside the Electoral Justice.
The final resolution states that curtailing the right to participate in internal elections to people affiliated with other parties, belonging or not to the Coalition or not affiliated, would be a serious violation of political rights.
In addition, the request for the exclusion of members of the National Republican Association (ANR) and non-members from the list of inmates was rejected. It should be noted that the Colorado Party had questioned before the TSJE the use of the national register by the Concertación, arguing that “it is not correct or legal that, because they appear in the Permanent Civic Registry, these data are used to make a political adhesion with which one does not agree with the ideology”.
REACTIONS
Guillermo Ferreiro, coordinator of the Concertación and president of the Febrerista Revolutionary Party (PRF), described the event as a jurisprudential milestone in Paraguayan Democracy that modifies the entire system of primary or internal elections of political parties and alliances in Paraguay.
The pre-candidates of the agreement for the presidency of the Republic also expressed their opinion on this historic decision. The deputy of Patria Querida, Sebastián Villarejo, stated that with this it is achieved that all Paraguayans registered in the Civic Registry can vote in the Coalition.
Another who highlighted the decision adopted by the TSJE is the pre-candidate Soledad Núñez, who indicated that open internal elections are a dream reality.
PLRA presidential candidate Efraín Alegre wrote on his Twitter account “all Paraguayans will be able to participate in the Concertación elections, regardless of affiliations or political parties. Let nothing stop us!”
Likewise, Senator Esperanza Martínez -applicant for the Ñemongeta alliance- considered that this recognition is a great step for the democratic process in Paraguay, because beyond the approval of the National Register for the use of agreement, this will strengthen democracy.
“When more people participate in the electoral processes, there will undoubtedly be greater legitimacy in what is decided and the elected people will also have greater political governance, because it is the result of a broad process of debate and social decision,” said Martínez.
He added that on the other hand, this achievement gives a pedagogical value for Paraguayan democracy. “Because we have a state party of up to 60 years, which on the contrary, what it always does is force people to submit to the Colorado Party, either because they join it against their will compulsively or in some way. they force the public official to participate in the democratic processes with punishment by means or pre-sale”.
MESSAGE TO YOUNG PEOPLE
For Martínez, this fact leaves a clear message to young people: the vote is universal, it is a right that must be exercised freely. “We have to learn to choose not only to vote and this is a political gesture, a political sign of a democratic change that is going to take place,” he stressed.
He advanced that in these elections there will not be the expected participation of suffragettes, due to the “fear” or “prejudice” that people will still have, but he highlights that this decision offers a great possibility as a genuine citizen’s right and without a doubt an advance.
Finally, the candidate believes that now the negotiations between the different actors must be finished, build the pairs, register and work with the people, to go through the internal electoral process and reach the 2023 elections with a unified sheet through of this process.
THE CONCERTATION
The Concertación is made up of Ñemongeta (leads the Guasú Front), the Febrerista Revolutionary Party (PRF), the Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA), the National Crusade, the Dear Fatherland, the National Encounter, and Let’s Make.
Likewise, it is made up of the Christian Democratic and Progressive Democratic Party, the Broad Front, Paraguay Tekopyahu, Independent Patriots, Mopoco, among others.
(Image: Courtesy)
