Deadlines Adjusted, Bolivian TSE To Call For Elections In 2020

Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), through its main member, Salvador Romero, asked the legislature on Wednesday to extend the deadline calling for 2020 presidential elections until early January.

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The reason for the postponement is the current delay in the rearrangement of some of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal positions, which has not yet been completed.

Romero explained that TSE requested a meeting of the Legislative to present the technical arguments for which "it would be important to move until the first days of January, probably January 2, the call for an election and approval of the electoral calendar of the 2020 process.

In the first place, if the process will start once the new members are in office, but "the TSE would face, at the end of December, days that will represent more delay due to the holidays and the two next weekends, "which would significantly reduce working days".

The second reason given is that the vacant posts of civil servants in the TSE, which reaches the 15% of the posts, still need to be filled.

 "We need to complete the staff of officials in order to start the electoral processes in an optimal way," Romero said.

Finally, he explained that "the process of electing departmental members is slightly behind the election of national members, and the optimal scenario is that the electoral process can begin by having all the national and departmental officials in office.

The request was accepted and agreed to by the political forces with representation in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly and on this Wednesday's session six remaining electoral members will be designated to complete the Electoral Plenary Hall.

The @SenadoBolivia Pdta @EvaCopa_Bol, informs that the legislative benches have reached a consensus on the @TSEBolivia vowel selection process.

According to Article 12 of the law calling for new presidential elections, the TSE "within two calendar days following its possession, will issue the Call for the 2020 General Elections.

However, Romero considered the two-day deadline too short to resolve, for example, the selection of staff in key vacant positions such as directorates and specialized technical positions.

In this sense, the president of the Senate, Eva Copa, specified that this phase will be extended to ten days, a decision that was agreed between the bench leaders of the three forces represented in the Legislative: MAS, UD and PDC.