The former president reaffirms his commitment to democracy.

On Wednesday, former Bolivian President Evo Morales reaffirmed his commitment to holding the presidential runoff election on Oct. 19.

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In a post on X, the leftist leader rejected statements by ruling party Senator Benjamin Vargas, who linked him to an alleged political maneuver to remove the members of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) and push for an extension of the constitutional mandate.

“There is and will be no kind of negotiation that undermines the independence of the electoral body or the country’s democratic calendar. Our parliamentary representation will not, under any circumstances, endorse an extension of any authority’s mandate,” Morales said.

“The people’s sovereignty is respected at the ballot box, not through political deals that seek to manipulate the popular will of those who were once aligned with Luis Arce’s administration and later switched sides to promote a failed division with Andronico Rodriguez.”

“We reaffirm our absolute commitment to democracy and to holding the runoff this Oct. 19. Bolivia needs certainty, respect for the law, and a democratic resolution of political differences—not authorities who seek to illegally extend their mandates to protect their privileges,” Morales concluded.

The text reads, “Election kits are being prepared for the second round of Bolivia’s presidential elections. Approximately 300 officials from the Departmental Electoral Tribunal (TED) in La Paz began assembling 9,099 suitcases of election materials, which will be distributed throughout the city’s 87 municipalities. Each package contains 41 items: ballots, vote count records, stamps, credentials, training materials, and cardboard screens. They are also hermetically sealed to protect them during distribution, which begins on October 15 under police custody of the Departmental Logistics Center.“

Earlier, Bolivian President Luis Arce had denounced an attempted “coup against democracy” allegedly being orchestrated from within the legislature through three actions aimed at suspending the runoff.

One of those actions is a bill proposed by Vargas, along with an initiative to create a parliamentary committee to investigate an alleged fraud in the first round held on Aug. 17, during which voters chose the president, vice president, and renewed the legislature for the next five-year term.

According to Arce, the formation of this committee is not intended “to investigate the electoral process for transparency purposes, but rather to reach the conclusion that the current electoral authorities should be prosecuted and the runoff suspended,” in order to extend the mandates of current executive and legislative authorities.

The third measure, Arce said, involves a “plan” to replace the current leadership of the Chamber of Deputies to facilitate the other two initiatives. Arce reiterated his intention to hand over power on Nov. 8 to whoever wins the runoff.

On Oct. 19, Bolivians will return to the polls to elect the president and vice president between two opposition tickets: centrist senator Rodrigo Paz and former conservative president Jorge Quiroga. Paz is running for the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) alongside former police captain Edman Lara, while Quiroga represents the Libre alliance with technology entrepreneur Juan Pablo Velasco.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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