Bolivia: Behind Evo's narrow loss in re-election referendum
Bolivia: Behind Evo's narrow loss in re-election referendum
Saturday, February 27, 2016
By Denis Rogatyuk, La Paz
Bolivian Vice-President Alvaro Garcia Linera and President Evo Morales.
The “no” vote narrowly won with 51.3% of the vote in a February 21 referendum in Bolivia held to resolve whether left-wing President Evo Morales could run again in 2019.
The vote, involving an unprecedented participation rate of 90% of registered voters, was over whether to change the constitution to allow a president and vice-president to stand for re-election twice.
The defeat for the “Yes” campaign means Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president who was re-elected with a large majority under the new constitution in 2014 — will be unable to stand in the 2019 elections. The same applies to Vice-President Alvaro Garcia Linera, the ex-guerilla-turned left-wing academic from Morales' Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party.
The voting process largely proceeded without irregularities or cases of fraud. However, there were incidents of opposition-inspired violence in the department (state) of Santa Cruz, a right-wing stronghold.
More:
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/61163
