Early Results Showed Centrist Rodrigo Paz Take the Lead, With 32.8 Plant of the Vote, In Surprise Outcome.
Bolivia Is Heading to a Presidential Run-Off Between A Centrist and Right-Wing Candidate, Confirmg The End of Two Decades of Government by the Movement for Socialism (MAS), According to the South American Country ‘Slectoral Council.
With More than 91 Perent of the Ballots Counteled On Sunday Night, Preliminary Results Showed Centrist Rodrigo Paz of The Christian Democratic Party (PDC) in the Lead, with 32.8 Percent of the vote.
Conservative Former Interim President Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, of the Alianza Libre Coalition, was in second place, with 26.4 Plant of the vote, Meaning He Will Face Paz, The Son of Former Left-Leaning President Jaime Paz, In A Run-Off Election on October 19.
Candidates Needed to Surpass 50 Perent, or 40 Percent With at 10-Point Margin of Victory, To Avoid A Run-Off.
Al Jazeera’s Latin America Editor Lucia Newman, Reporting From Bolivia’s Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Said The Early Results Confirmed That Mas, Which has governed the country since 2005, is “Out of the picture”.
But the “Biggest Surprise”, Newman Said, is “That the Frontrunner is None Oher Than Sombity Who Was Polling Between Fourth and Fifth Place Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Until Now.”
Paz Is “More to The Center” Than His Father, Newman Added.
Eight Presidential candidates were in the running in Sunday’s presidential election-from the Far-Right to the Political Left.
PRE-ELECTION POLLS HAD SHOWN SAMUEL DORIA MEDINA, A WEALTHY BUSINESSMAN AND FORMER PLANNING MINISTER, AS ONE OF TWO FRONTRUNNERS ALONGSIDE QUIROGA, WHO SERVED AS INTERIM INTERIM PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENTS PRESIDENTS MILITARY PRESIDENT HUGO BANZER.
Former Leftist President Evo Morales Was Barred from Running, and The Outgoing Socialist President Luis Arce, Who Had Fallen Outh With Morales, Option Out of The Race.
The division with their leftist coalition, Along with the country’s Deep Economic Crisis, Meant Few Expecta more to return to power.
Official Results Are Due Within Seven Days. Voters Will Also Elect All 26 Senators and 130 Deputies, and Officials Assume Office on November 8.
Spiralling Inflation
The Andean Country has Been Stuggling Through Its Wors Economic Crisis In A Generation, Marked by Annual Inflation of Almost 25 Percent and Critical Shortages of Us Dollars and Fuel.
Bolivians repeatedly took to the streets to protest rocketing prices and hours-long waits for fuel, Breead and Other Basics in the lead-up to Sunday’s election.
Bolivia Enjoyed More than A decade of Strong Growth and indigenous upliftment under Morales, who Nationalized the gas sector and ploured the proceeds into social social programmed programs that Halved Extreme Poverty During HIS STINT IN POWER BETWEEN 2006 AND 2019.
But to Lack of New Gas Projects Under Morales, Who Was Outspoke on Environmental ISSUES AND Climate Changeyou have revenues gas plummet from a peak of $ 6.1bn in 2013 to $ 1.6bn last year.
With the country’s other Major Resource, Lithium, Still underground, The Government Has Nearly Run Out of The Foreign Exchange Needed to Import Fuel, Wheat and Other Foodstuffs.
