With 90 percent of the votes counted, the electoral authority in the country was able to state that the right-wing party retains power in the country.
Former finance minister Santiago Peña, 44, becomes the new president with 42 percent of the vote.
He is described as a technocrat with a distinguished academic career behind him, and positions at the IMF and the country’s central bank.
He managed to keep the party united despite deep divisions caused by corruption allegations against people in the party’s leadership. Other election issues have been crime, the country’s economic problems and also the relationship with Taiwan – Paraguay is one of 13 countries that chose to have relations with Taipei over Beijing.
Center-left contender Efraín Alegre, candidate for the opposition that has come together under the name Concertación, received just 27.5 percent despite leading in opinion polls.
The Colorado Party, which has basically ruled since the 1940s, was also in power during a brutal military dictatorship when the country was led by General Alfredo Stroessner. The then divided party elected him as president.