Brazil & Southern Cone - July 2013 (ISSN 1741-4431)

As he prepares to take over the reins of power, President-Elect Horacio Cartes has signalled that he is not a traditional Asociación Nacional Republicana-Partido Colorado (ANR-PC, Colorados) politician and that he will try to practice consensus politics instead of merely relying on the support of the Colorados to govern. Given that the ANR-PC secured majorities in both chambers of congress in the April general election [RBS-13-04], Cartes’s decision to establish a working relationship with the political opposition might at first glance seem odd. But upon closer inspection it becomes clear that doing so may be a necessity for the incoming government.

Days ahead the establishment of the new congress on 30 June, Cartes, who is to be sworn-in on 16 August, unexpectedly announced that he had reached a political agreement with four of the five opposition benches in congress in the name of working together to develop joint initiatives.

After being proclaimed president elect back in April, Cartes began a series of private meetings with leaders from across the political spectrum including the ANR-PC’s traditional rival, the Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico (PLRA), and the Frente Guasú (FG) leftist coalition led by the impeached former president and now senator, Fernando Lugo (2008-2012). Political animosity between the ANR-PC and the PLRA has historically dominated Paraguayan politics. Lugo (with the PLRA’s backing) made history by defeating the ANR-PC in the 2008 elections, ending its long rule of over 60 years uninterrupted. Needless to say, Cartes’ conciliatory stance towards these opponents, and in particular towards Lugo, raised some suspicion within the ranks of the ANR-PC.

Cartes said that his decision to hold talks with the opposition was a conscientious attempt to achieve national political reconciliation in the country after the crisis surrounding Lugo’s lightening impeachment. He stressed that his efforts to build bridges with the country’s political forces would also help to ensure governability. He said that this rapprochement should be taken as a sign that his political movement, Honor Colorado, and his incoming administration would be different to past, politically authoritarian, Colorado governments.

‘Pacto Azulgrana’

On 21 June Cartes announced that he had reached a deal with the PLRA, the main opposition bloc in the new congress. The so-called ‘Pacto Azulgrana’, in reference to the traditional colours of the ANR-PC (red) and the PLRA (blue), calls for a “national legislative agenda” to be focused on “fighting poverty and inequality… developing human capital, public security, economic development and stability”. It would act in support of a “serious and responsible government […] that will be open and will combat corruption, promoting unrestricted access of information to citizens”. All very lofty goals, which Cartes said would create a “historic” political alliance for the benefit of the country.

Cartes’ announcement immediately led many to draw comparisons between his Pact and the Pacto por México agreement forged by Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto with the country’s three main political parties before he assumed office in December 2012. In a clear parallel, Peña Nieto’s July 2012 election victory in Mexico marked the return to power of the traditional Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), which had held a monopoly on power in Mexico even longer than that of the ANR-PC until it was finally defeated in the polls in 2000. Peña Nieto’s Pacto has proved highly successful, allowing his government to push through several big structural reforms long impeded by party-political considerations in congress. That Cartes might looking to imitate Peña Nieto in this respect looks encouraging.

However, the Pacto por México is a very thorough document setting out all the initiatives to be pursued, along with a detailed schedule. For all the talk of transparency and openness, there are only vague details about the contents of the Pacto Azulgrana.

Moreover, given that neither Cartes nor the PLRA leaders have been forthcoming about the terms of the pact, there is some suspicion that it merely amounts to a deal to divvy up leadership posts in congress (and possibly also in the cabinet) so as to ensure governability. Cartes acknowledged that the agreement did involve some political negotiations, but stressed that they had nothing to do with “impunity, or a distribution of posts”.

‘Acuerdo por Paraguay’

On 29 June, Cartes announced that the right-wing Unión Nacional de Ciudadanos Eticos (Unace), the leftist Partido Encuentro Nacional and the FG splinter group, Avanza País (AP), also had decided to sign up to the Pacto Azulgrana, which was duly rebranded as the ‘Acuerdo por Paraguay’.

Tensions in congress

Cartes’s successful deal with the opposition raised questions as to what sort of backroom deals might have been involved. As the newly elected senators and national deputies assumed their seats, some clues began to emerge. In the senate, where the ANR-PC has a narrow majority, it secured the presidency with Julio César Velázquez, while the first vice-presidency went to the PLRA’s Ramón Gómez Vernlangieri and the second vice-presidency to the ANR-PC’s Víctor Bogado.

However, in the lower chamber (where the ANR-PC secured a commanding majority of 44 seats in the 80-seat chamber), the PLRA’s Juan Bartolomé ‘Ancho’ Ramírez became the new president, with ANR-PC’s Mario Soto Estigarribia as first vice-president and AP’s Karina Rodríguez as second vice-president. Many within the ANR-PC bench bitterly complained that they had been ordered to vote for Ramírez and Rodríguez. Having to vote for Rodríguez was particularly unpalatable for ANR-PC deputies, who bemoaned that giving him such a leadership position was “too big of a prize”.

The ANR-PC grumblings over the congressional commissions. Although the ANR-PC took the helm of 10 of 19 commissions in the senate, deputies bemoaned the fact that both the AP and Unace secured one each; while the remaining seven all went to the PLRA.

In the lower chamber, the fact that the ANR-PC will head 16 of the 26 commissions, while the PLRA will head nine, did little to ease discontent at the fact that the remaining two went to the AP and the Partido Patria Querida (PPQ).

Cartes is not a member of the ANR-PC’s traditional leadership, leading to some questions about the level of support he can expect from the ANR-PC bench. The ‘Acuerdo’ thus might be viewed as an ‘insurance policy’ should the new president fail to secure the full backing of his own party for his initiatives. The problem is that in doing this at the outset, Cartes is already upsetting ANR-PC legislators.

• People remind congress of duties

On 30 June, as the new senators and national deputies were being sworn-in, some 500 people from various civil society groups staged demonstrations outside congress to remind legislators that must be accountable. Alejandro Gonzi, one of the organisers, said that congress should be aware that citizens were ready to conduct a ‘citizens’ audit’ to “stop them from passing all those bad laws that congress usually attempts to introduce” and he warned congressionals “to legislate for the people and not for their own benefit”.

• Cartes responds to ANR-PC grumbling

On 5 July, President-elect Cartes responded to complaints by Colorado deputies about his new pact with the opposition. Speaking to reporters, he said the new congress “should concentrate on drafting laws to benefit the country instead of continuing to bicker over posts”. He added that the goal of his new cross-party agreement was for “harmony” in congress so that it could “put the country first”. “If members of congress are still fighting, that has more with personal ambitions”, he quipped. His comments did not go down well with the ANR-PC bench, with some complaints that they were “inopportune” and should have been made in private, rather than in public.