Bolivia set to elect first non-left wing president in two decades

Bolivia is about to elect a non-left wing president after almost twenty years of near-continuous rule by the incumbent socialist celebration, in keeping with official preliminary outcomes.

Senator Rodrigo Paz Pereira and former president Jorge Quiroga got here in first and second place respectively in Sunday’s presidential elections.

Neither obtained a excessive sufficient share of the vote to safe an outright win, so the vote will go to a run-off between these two candidates, due in October.

Paz Pereira, of the Christian Democratic Celebration, was a shock vote chief, after opinion polls had steered Samuel Doria Medina, a businessman, was the frontrunner.

The electoral authorities stated it could possibly take as much as three days to finalise the outcomes.

Paz Pereira’s marketing campaign centered on redistributing extra funds away from central authorities in direction of regional entities, and preventing corruption – along with his slogan “capitalism for all, not only a few”.

He has steered a programme of accessible credit score, tax breaks to spice up the formal financial system, and eliminating import limitations for merchandise that Bolivia would not manufacture.

Quiroga briefly acted as interim president from 2001-2002 after serving as Vice President to Hugo Banzer, a navy dictator till he was later elected.

The election of a president from exterior the left camp will probably see sharp adjustments within the Latin American nation’s international coverage.

By way of commerce, each candidates capitalist stances might point out extra assist for international funding in Bolivia’s huge lithium reserves – the important thing ingredient for batteries utilized in many electrical vehicles, laptops and photo voltaic panels.

Politically, a change in authorities might mark nearer ties with the US, after twenty years of strengthening ties between Bolivia and China, Russia and Iran.

A current US Congress report briefing described US-Bolivia relations as “strained” beneath the socialist celebration’s governance.

The nation’s flip to the correct comes as it’s experiencing its worst economic crisis in years, with shortages of gasoline, international reserves and a few meals gadgets and excessive inflation and debt.

Opinion polls forward of the election steered that many citizens needed to vote for change, or to punish the incumbent Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) celebration.

The present president, Luis Arce, mired in deep unpopularity, determined to not search re-election.

The punishment of the left is not only electoral, however bodily in some instances.

The candidate for MAS, Eduardo del Castillo, was booed out of the varsity the place he solid his vote. Bolivian media reported that some fellow voters advised him to “wait in line like they do for gasoline” slightly than skip the voting queue.

Folks additionally threw stones on the highest-polling left-wing candidate, Andrónico Rodríguez, when he went to solid his poll. Rodríguez was beforehand a member of MAS earlier than splintering from the celebration.

Authorities in Bolivia additionally stated that an explosive system was set off on the polling station the place Rodríguez solid his vote. There have been no studies of great injury or accidents.

Rodríguez described it as an “remoted incident” orchestrated by a “small group” to a Bolivian newspaper.

The left has not simply confronted current unpopularity over the financial system. It’s also deeply divided.

For the primary time in about twenty years, the previous president, Evo Morales, was not on the poll.

Morales dominated the nation from 2006-2019 and was barred from operating once more, regardless of makes an attempt to problem authorized and constitutional rulings to let him run for a fourth time period.

He has urged his supporters to null their vote.

Rodríguez was as soon as seen as a protégé of Morales, however has since distanced himself from him.

The final election in 2019 was disputed and protests erupted. Morales was accused of fraud after auditors discovered irregularities with the ballot and he resigned beneath stress from the navy.

In 2020, Luis Arce – a former finance minister beneath Morales – took workplace as president. Morales then introduced he would return to politics in Bolivia, and disadvantaged Arce of a majority – turning the pair from allies to rivals.

Deep rifts and energy struggles have existed within the ruling MAS celebration ever since. Morales’s supporters have held protests and roadblocks in opposition to the re-election ban imposed on him, which have at instances turned lethal with some emergency responders being killed.

Judges ordered an arrest warrant for Morales over an alleged sexual relationship and rape of a 15-year-old lady. He has known as the accusations politically-motivated.

He has been residing and working from Chapare in Bolivia, protected at instances by his supporters.