Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Bolivia, August 19 - The pair of Rodrigo Paz and Edman Lara surprised in Bolivia’s general elections, securing first place with 32.16 percent of the votes, according to preliminary official data from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE).
According to figures released by the Preliminary Electoral Results System (Sirepre), the son of former President Jaime Paz and the retired police captain, who gained popularity through his anti-corruption denunciations within the police force—leading to public repression against him—accumulated 1.5 million votes.
Of the 4.8 million valid votes, former far-right president Jorge Tuto Quiroga, along with businessman Juan Pablo Velazco representing the Libre Alliance, placed second with 26.88 percentage points (1.3 million votes).
These two parties will compete in 60 days in a runoff to determine the president and vice president, as the Constitution stipulates that to win the presidency and lead the Plurinational Legislative Assembly (ALP), it is necessary to achieve over 50 percent of the votes or 40 out of 100 with a 10 percentage point lead over the second place.
The biggest loser was the duo of Samuel Doria Medina and José Luis Lupo, who were at the top of almost all polls for months but only garnered 967,123 votes, equivalent to 20 percent.
Following this outcome, the former Minister of Planning and a frustrated presidential candidate for over 20 years stated that he would honor his word to support the first-place right-wing candidate, reaffirming his backing for Paz.
In fourth place was Andrónico Rodríguez, representing the Popular Alliance, with 391,546 votes (8.1 percent), significantly influenced by former President Evo Morales’ call for his supporters to cast null votes.
Interestingly, null votes represented 20 percent of the ballots cast, the same percentage accumulated by Doria Medina.
Another major loser in this election was Cochabamba’s mayor, Manfred Reyes Villa, who initially topped polls at the start of his campaign in mid-2024 when he founded the Autonomy for Bolivia-Join Us (APB-Únete) party, but his support dwindled over the campaign.
Reyes Villa received the backing of 321,340 voters (6.6 percent of valid ballots).
A bittersweet outcome lingered for Bolivia’s largest political party in history, the Movement for Socialism-Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (MAS-IPSP), which has over a million members and was projected in all polls to fall below the three percent threshold required to maintain its legal status.
The duo representing this party, Eduardo del Castillo and Milán Berna, managed to secure 152,218 votes (3.1 percent), providing them with the consolation of saving the fragmented MAS-IPSP as a political force.
The mayor of Santa Cruz de la Sierra and leader of Civic Unity Solidarity (UCS), Jhonny Fernández, emerged as the biggest loser in this election, obtaining only 1.6 percent of the votes (77,400 ballots), which will lead to his party losing its political representation.
The same fate awaits the Freedom and Progress-ADN Alliance, represented by Pavel Aracena, who garnered just 70,124 votes for only 1.4 percent of valid ballots.
Currently, the four main right-wing parties collectively hold over 85 percent of the seats in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly, a figure that could allow them to call for a constitutional assembly after taking office in November with the aim of restoring a racist and neoliberal republic while eliminating the Plurinational State.
A potential obstacle could arise from the national popular bloc, which reflects more than 20 percent of the Bolivian electorate. This group, displaced from control of the Legislative Body due to its lack of unity, now poses a threat to the governance of the Andean Amazon country from the streets. (Text and Photo: Cubadebate)
