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News > Bolivia

Bolivian Senate Approves Debate for New Presidential Elections

  • Supporters of Bolivia's ousted President Evo Morales attend a memorial for a fellow supporter who died after clashes with security forces, at the entrance of Sacaba, near Cochabamba, Bolivia November 18, 2019.

    Supporters of Bolivia's ousted President Evo Morales attend a memorial for a fellow supporter who died after clashes with security forces, at the entrance of Sacaba, near Cochabamba, Bolivia November 18, 2019. | Photo: Reuters

Published 21 November 2019
Opinion

Bolivia has been in a state of chaos for two weeks following the coup that removed the democratically elected President Evo Morales from office. 

The Bolivian Senate began a debate on Wednesday to discuss the "exceptional and transitory law " for the general elections, with the intention of ending the political crisis unleashed after the October elections.

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"We consider two projects that are fundamentally coincidental. The deadlines must be cut, so that we can eliminate primary elections, qualification deadlines and other issues so that this law can be passed," Senator Óscar Ortiz, president of the commission that prepares the projec, said in a statement.

According to several media outlets, the leader of the Movement to Socialism (MAS), President Evo Morales , recognized the controversial SenatorJeanine Áñez as president of the country before her self-proclamation this month.

However, these rumors were denied and this version does not appear in the submitted project.

The process of the "exceptional law" was initiated after an agreement between the MAS, which has a large majority in the two chambers of the Legislative Assembly, and the minority opposition banks, in parallel to a high-level negotiation that seeks agreements on other aspects of the political crisis.

"I greet the two (minority) political forces for having attended today and reaching consensus," said Senate President Eva Copa (MAS), announcing the decision to debate the electoral law without pause until approval.

President Morales announced his resignation on October 10 after calling on all political sectors (mainly the coup opposition) to avoid bloodshed. Since then, the de facto government has promoted the persecution MAS supporters.

Likewise, the military and the police forces initiated a repression against the demonstrations, which openly reject the irregular situation in the Bolivian political sphere. In just ten days, security agency measures have led to the death of more than 27 people.

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