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News > Bolivia

Bolivia: Democracy Endangered During Elections, MAS Alerts

  • Soldiers guard a polling station in La Paz, Bolivia, Oct. 20, 2019.

    Soldiers guard a polling station in La Paz, Bolivia, Oct. 20, 2019. | Photo: Twitter/ @teleamazonas

Published 13 October 2020
Opinion

Luis Arce’s party denounced the military custody of the ballot boxes during the next Sunday polls.

Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) spokeswoman Marianela Paco Monday alerted that democracy is being attacked again in Bolivia,  following evidence that points to a plot to avoid the victory of candidates Luis Arce and David Choquehuanca in next Sunday general elections.

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Paco based his complaint on the total absence of transparency showed by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s (TSE) regarding the vote-counting system. She also criticized the return of the Organization of American States (OAS) observers, the declaration of a six-day curfew, and the fact that the electoral ballot boxes will be under the custody of military and police elements involved in the 2019 coup.

"As of today, the TSE has not told the Bolivian people if the rapid-counting system that will be implemented is internationally certified. The TSE has not shown what differences have improved this counting system compared to last year’s. They have not shown us how that system is going to work.  Therefore, there is no transparency," Paco said.

Regarding the electoral acts, she pointed the irony on the fact that those who carried out a coup to democracy last year wants to be the guardians of the elections, referring to the inter-institutional agreement that TSE president Salvador Romero signed with the Armed Forces and the National Police. The agreement details remain confidential.

"Those who ordered to burn the ballot boxes and the polling stations last year, again want to guard our votes, so the population is unprotected. For this reason, I denounce to the international community this lack of transparency and lack of guarantees.”

As denounced by MAS, another fact that tarnishes the clean and transparent electoral process is that the TSE did not release the list of international observers, especially those from OAS.

"We know that the OAS observers are the same as last year and this is an affront against the Bolivian people and a sabotage in progress, again against the return to democracy," Paco said.

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