Friday, August 08, 2008

Paraguay: Hanging up mitre

Former Catholic Bishop Fernando Lugo will be inaugurated next week as Paraguay's first president from outside the Colorado Party for over 60 years.

He will also become the first former member of the Catholic hierarchy to become president anywhere in the world -- last month Pope Benedict XVI issued an unprecedented dispensation allowing Lugo to resign as a bishop, releasing him from his religious vows and allowing him to recover his status as a layman (although priests have frequently been released from their vows, the Vatican has argued that members of the hierarchy cannot 'resign').

Austere 'bishop of the poor' Lugo had sought the dispensation in late 2006 when he announced his presidential candidacy, but in early 2007 the request was rejected by the Vatican.

The Paraguayan constitution prohibits members of the clergy from holding the presidency, and the Pope's decision now removes the possibility (however remote) that Lugo's election could be impugned.

Nevertheless, the outgoing -- and disgruntled -- Colorado Party has threatened to boycott the inauguration, and is likely to make governance difficult for the new president.

This could become especially problematic in the case of land reform, a crucial issue in a country in which an estimated 1% of the population controls three-quarters of arable land, and where expectations for change have been rising since Lugo's victory in April.

Although Lugo has thus far managed to strike a balance between the demands of business and those of the poor, impatience may rise if there is no rapid progress on land reform.

Given that Colorado-appointed judges still dominate the judiciary, and that any land takeover, even if compensated, can be appealed to the courts, slow progress and rising frustration among landless peasants seem almost unavoidable.

Lugo will have to be blessed with luck.
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