The Constitutional Court, however, made it clear that the Constitution does not allow discontinuous reelection.

On Wednesday, the Plurinational Constitutional Court (TCP) established that presidential reelection can only occur once continuously and without the possibility of a third term.

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The court ruling clarifies the Bolivian Constitution’s Article 168, which establishes that the president and vice president can be reelected “only once continuously,” and which left doubts about whether discontinuous reelection was permitted. The TCP’s interpretation also applies to those seeking reelection as national legislators, governors, mayors, regional assembly members, and municipal councilors.

As a result of the Constitutional Court ruling, the historic leader of the Bolivian left, Evo Morales, would not be eligible to run in the August 17 elections, as he had previously served as president three times: 2006-2009, 2010-2014, and 2015-2019.

On Tuesday, President Luis Arce renounced his reelection bid and challenged Morales to follow the same path with the goal of “closing ranks” around the most popular leftist candidate. Arce asked Senate President Andronico Rodriguez, who a couple of weeks ago decided to distance himself from Morales and run for the Bolivian presidency on his own, to join the unity of the leftist popular bloc.

In response, Morales rejected Arce’s challenge and reaffirmed his intention to seek the Bolivian presidency again. “Only the people can ask me to decline my candidacy. We have no personal ambitions. We will obey the people’s mandate to save Bolivia again. We will never renounce our revolutionary consciousness. With the strength of the people, we remain standing,” he said.

“Once again, we call on the brothers and sisters who have distanced themselves to return to their families and to the cradle of the true revolution so that we, together and united, can triumph at the polls and rebuild the destroyed homeland,” Morales stressed.

“We have already demonstrated that we know how to govern while guaranteeing stability and economic growth. With us, there has never been a shortage of fuel or dollars. For 14 years, we maintained a single exchange rate, distributed the state’s wealth to the people through public works projects and bonds, and defended our natural resources against the voracity of the Empire and its transnational corporations,” he concluded.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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