The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday it was closely monitoring the upcoming presidential elections in Paraguay and the Dominican Republic, two of the nation’s diplomatic allies in South America and the Caribbean, especially as one of the candidates in Paraguay is known to be pro-China.
Paraguay and the Dominican Republic will hold their presidential elections on Sunday and May 16 respectively.
Simon Ko (柯森耀), director-general of the ministry’s Central and South American Affairs, said at a regular press briefing that among the four candidates in Paraguay, the front-runners were former Catholic Bishop Fernando Lugo of the opposition Patriotic Alliance for Change, retired army general Lino Oviedo of the opposition National Union of Ethical Citizens and Blanca Ovelar of the ruling National Republican Association — Colorado Party.
Former education minister Ovelar is seeking to become the first female leader in Paraguay. The center-right Colorado Party has been in power in the South American country for more than six decades, but the party is facing a big challenge in Sunday’s election.
LEAD
The latest poll in Paraguay showed that Lugo was leading with 34.5 percent of the projected vote, followed by Oviedo with 28.9 percent and Ovelar with 28.5 percent.
Ko said Lugo had said during his campaign that he would like to establish relations with China if elected, giving rise to speculation on whether Taiwan would lose its only ally in South America.
The outcome of the presidential race in the Dominican Republic appeared to be more certain.
Ko said incumbent President Leonel Fernandez, who is seeking a third consecutive term with his Dominican Liberation Party, is the front-runner.
A Bloomberg report said that Fernandez had widened his lead over his closest rival to 24 percentage points, with less than two months to go before the election.
NEW GROUP
Meanwhile, the ministry announced yesterday that a Taiwan Friendship Group was for the first time established in the Russian parliament last week.
The group, Department of West Asian Affairs Deputy-Chairman Ali Yang (楊心怡) said, seeks to support technical, trade and academic relations between the two countries.
Yang said an invitation had been sent out to members of the group to attend the presidential inauguration next month, but an affirmative response had yet to be received.
Additional reporting by Jenny W. Hsu
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