1988 Paraguayan general election

General elections were held in Paraguay on 14 February 1988.[1] Alfredo Stroessner of the Colorado Party won the presidential elections, whilst the Colorado Party won 20 of the 30 seats in the Senate and 40 of the 60 seats in the Chamber of Deputues. Voter turnout was 92.2%.[2]

1988 Paraguayan general election

14 February 1988
Turnout	92.2%
Presidential election
Candidate Alfredo Stroessner Luis María Vega Party Colorado Radical Liberal Popular vote 1,187,738 95,450 Percentage 89.6% 7.2%
President before election Alfredo Stroessner Colorado President-elect Alfredo Stroessner Colorado
Parliamentary election
60 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 30 seats in the Senate
Party Leader % Seats ± Chamber of Deputies (31 seats for a majority) Colorado Alfredo Stroessner 89.6% 40 0 Radical Liberal Luis María Vega 7.2% 13 0 Liberal Carlos Ybarra 3.2% 7 0 Senate (16 seats needed for a majority) Colorado 20 0 Radical Liberal 6 0 Liberal 4 0 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

These were the first elections held since Stroessner nominally lifted a state of siege in 1987. The state of siege had been in force since he took office in 1954. Despite this, opposition leaders were arbitrarily arrested, and opposition meetings and demonstrations were broken up—often brutally. By election day, the only independent media outlets that hadn't been shut down were those operated by the Catholic Church. Under these conditions, most opposition parties urged their supporters to either cast blank ballots or abstain from voting altogether.[3]

As it turned out, these were the last elections under Stroessner, who had won every election since 1954 with more than 70% of the vote, as he was overthrown in a coup in February 1989.[4] Fresh elections were held in May 1989, the first time the opposition had been able to contest elections more or less unmolested for several years.[4]

Results

President

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Alfredo Stroessner	Colorado Party	1,187,738	89.6
Luis María Vega	Radical Liberal Party	95,450	7.2
Carlos Ferreira Ybarra	Liberal Party	42,430	3.2
Invalid/blank votes		7,818	–
Total		1,333,436	100
Source: Nohlen

Senate

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/-
Colorado Party			20	0
Radical Liberal Party			6	0
Liberal Party			4	0
Invalid/blank votes		–	–	–
Total			30	0
Source: IPU

Chamber of Deputies

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/-
Colorado Party	1,187,738	89.6	40	0
Radical Liberal Party	95,450	7.2	13	0
Liberal Party	42,430	3.2	7	0
Invalid/blank votes	7,818	–	–	–
Total	1,333,436	100	60	0
Source: Nohlen, IPU

References

1. Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II, p425 ISBN 978-0-19-928358-3
2. Nohlen, p426
3. Bruneau, Thomas C.. "Government and Politics". Paraguay: A country study (Dannin M. Hanratty and Sandra W. Meditz, eds.). Library of Congress Federal Research Division (December 1988). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
4. Nohlen, p416