Weekly Report - 19 June 2008 (ISSN 1741-7422)

President-elect Fernando Lugo placed the emphasis on pluralism in his cabinet appointments. This pleased the so-called “progressive" smaller parties in his umbrella coalition Alianza Patriótica para el Cambio (APC) but was less well received by the Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico (PLRA), by far the largest party in the APC, which felt that four out of ten cabinet posts did not reflect its presence in congress. Lugo performed a delicate balancing act, carefully apportioning ministries to different factions within the PLRA, in an endeavour to preserve the broadest possible support.