Millionaire Cartes elected Paraguayan president

Paraguay's top electoral body, the Supreme Court of Electoral Justice (TSJE), announced Sunday evening that Cartes had beat runner-up Efrain Alegre of the ruling Liberal Party by nearly 10 percentage points, after ballots at 75 percent of voting stations were tabulated.

Cartes garnered 45.93 percent of votes, while Alegre got 36.84 percent, the TSJE said.

About half an hour before the the TSJE was to announce the official results, Alegre conceded defeat, saying exit polls showed him trailing Cartes "by 5 to 7 points."

"Paraguayans have spoken," Alegre said, adding he considered the election process "suitable."

Cartes will take over the presidency from Liberal Party President Federico Franco, who as vice president rose to top power after former leftist President Fernando Lugo was ousted in June 2012.

Sunday's elections were the first since Lugo was ousted in a snap impeachment that took less than 48 hours, Kazinform has learnt from Xinhua.

His sudden removal by an overwhelmingly right-wing congress was considered a virtual coup by many of Paraguay's South American neighbors, and the country was suspended from regional trade bloc Mercosur for breaking democratic principles.

Despite 11 candidates running for the presidency, the presidential race was essentially between two conservatives after prominent leftist candidate Lino Oveido was killed when his helicopter crashed in February as his campaign was gaining momentum.

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