Most agree that Peña is better positioned, this after the latest political decisions taken by the current Vice President in favor of Chartism. One of them was the “rescue” of Sandra Quiñónez, State Attorney General.
BETTER POSITIONED
Caio Manhanelli, a political consultant, said that today, Santiago Peña is better positioned than Hugo Velázquez, facing the next Red inmates. He pointed out that there is always a tendency to change when there are governments that are very poorly evaluated, such as the current one of Abdo Benítez.
“What we can say is that there is a strong trend of favoritism towards Santiago Peña in relation to Velázquez. Abdo had the records of rejection and disapproval in the entire history of Paraguay (80%). That is why it is very difficult for a government to succeed in making a successor in the face of such intense rejection”, he explained.
The analyst recalled that at the time, Cartes had highly approved of his government until 2015, but after the municipal elections he lost important corners of the ANR. The defeat is attributed too much to Cartes and rejection of him begins to grow.
“Velázquez has a good chance of obtaining the candidacy, but Peña is the favorite,” he commented.
Political scientist Selva Castiñeira stated that she sees Santiago Peña with well-defined strategies and objectives.
“He is prepared in terms of positioning and voting intentions, with a defined investigation of the context in which he has to carry out an electoral campaign to reach his target number for both the pre-candidacy for the Presidency and the other positions in Congress. I always say that he campaigns early and is well organized,” he said.
About Velázquez, he affirmed that he has less prominence unlike previous months. It is observed in the Vice President that he does not have a defined and well-supported organization.
“The strategy used by his opponent to conquer part of his structure weakened him, and he took center stage. It is worth noting that they are a government, that they have an important structure in the State institutions sector, but today I believe that the ideal candidate of the ruling party is not him”, he commented.
THE SALVAGE
Hugo Estigarribia, a constitutional lawyer, explained that Velázquez was doing well in his candidacy until he made the pact to save Sandra Quiñónez, Attorney General, in exchange for saving his brother Carlos Velázquez, commander of the Navy.
“He showed himself to be a breakaway candidate until they tacitly negotiated the impunity of Sandra Quiñónez. That showed that it is more of the same. Velázquez’s luck in the internals was closely linked to this. You have to see if people have memory. He showed that he is equal to Mario Abdo, in the sense of beating him internally and then agreeing with Cartes”, he affirmed.
PREMATURE
Clara Martínez, a political scientist, unlike her colleagues, pointed out that it is too early to announce which of the two is better profiled.
He stressed that the two candidates are working hard and that Velázquez has a lot of experience to know how to move.
“Both have a strong political structure, economic resources and what will make the difference is the political strategy,” he said.
He argued that at times Velázquez is ahead of Peña in the polls and at other times, it is the opposite.
