Paraguay’s ruling-party candidate concedes defeat
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The ruling-party candidate in Paraguay’s presidential election has conceded to defeat, signaling the end of six decades of one-party rule and handing victory to former Roman Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo. Blanca Ovelar says Lugo has built an unassailable lead and that the outcome of Sunday’s election is now ‘irreversible’. Elections officials are reporting that with 70 per cent of polling sites counted, Lugo has 40 per cent of the vote, Ovelar 32 per cent and former army chief Lino Oviedo 22 per cent. News of the Lugo win has sent thousands of his euphoric supporters into the streets of Asuncion in a massive celebration. Lugo, dubbed the ‘bishop of the poor,’ has vowed to help Paraguay’s poor and indigenous. (AP) |
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