The Church asks for the clarification of doubts about the elections in Paraguay

The Catholic Church asked this Sunday for confidence-building information to clear up “any doubts” about the April 30 election, which elected pro-government leader Santiago Peña as president and faced allegations of a recount and international audit by side of the opponent.

“We must promote the absolute transparency of the electoral process. The bishops emphasize that this is an essential condition for the legitimacy of the emergence of new authorities and that they will enable manageability and social peace.”said Cardinal Alberto Martínez, in a homily during the tedium on the occasion of 212 years of independence of Paraguay, which was attended by the outgoing president Mario Abdo Benítez and the country’s authorities.

In this regard, he called “to the competent organizations that provide and present all the information that makes it possible to create trust and peace of mind about the purity of the electoral process and that removes any doubt.”

“Let us listen, enlightened by the word of the prophet, to some signs and signals of the times that Paraguay lives in, which cry out for justice and which, if adequate answers are not given, hinder the achievement of peace.”the Catholic hierarch condemned.

Former presidential hopefuls Efrain Alegre and the Paraguayan Kubas -who is in preventive custody- requested the opening of the so-called “fourth envelope” containing the ballots used during the elections.

Kubas, from the National Crusader Party (PCN)he was arrested on May 5 on charges of disturbing the peace and other alleged crimes, after denouncing alleged “fraud” in the election that sparked protests by his followers, some of which led to riots in which at least 208 were arrested.

Last Thursday, The Supreme Election Court (TSJE) he decided “not to make room” for the demands of various political sectors, among them the opposition coalition Concertación Nacional del Alegre and the PCN.

On the other hand, the cardinal pointed out that the homeland “a deep moral transformation is needed” and considers structural reforms to address social and economic inequality “indispensable”.

“Corruption, impunity and organized crime – he warned – corrupt our institutions and weaken the democratic system, preventing the realization of the common good”.

“In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to strengthen the institutional framework and guarantee the independence of the judiciary, the Ministry of State, the Comptroller General and the Directorate for Public Procurement, among other bodies of the Republic”he added.

He also asked, referring to Pope Francis, to ensure “everyone’s access to land, shelter and work” and he considered that the “problem of property and land ownership” in the country deserves special attention.

In this regard, he pointed out that “make serious cadastres transparent and clean up illegally resold land registers”, as well as giving property to legitimate owners, noting that the land issue is “a source of serious social, economic and environmental conflicts” in the country.

On the other hand, he confirmed that rulers should not use their power “to favor only their political group or economic sector” and called on everyone to “work for the common good”.