Supporters of Evo Morales and the police clash in La Paz, May 16, 2025. Photo: EFE.
Less than three months before the general elections in Bolivia, former President Evo Morales (2006-2019) has promised to conduct a legal and social battle to reverse his disqualification and run for president again, after the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) upheld his disqualification.
At his stronghold in The Chapare, Morales declared to Radio Kawsachun Coca that he is not going to renounce his presidential aspiration and condemned the institutional attempts to keep the “largest political movement in the country” out of the race.
Morales was left out of the electoral process because he did not have a registered political party that would declare him as candidate, after the Supreme Electoral Tribunal disqualified the organizations Frente Para la Victoria and PAN-BOL, with which he had tried to ally himself after losing control of the ruling Movement Towards Socialism (MAS).
“If there is any uprising, it will be the responsibility of the government,” Morales warned, and President Luis Arce did not take long to respond. From the Casa Grande del Pueblo, Arce accused “groups with personal objectives” of trying to “destabilize democracy” and called upon Bolivians to defend peace.
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The threats of mobilization on the part of the supporters of Evo Morales have placed the institutions on high alert. TSE spokesperson Gustavo Ávila repudiated the pressure tactics and blackmail against the electoral body and confirmed that Morales’ candidacy was not registered for lacking an authorized party and for not having access to the TSE’s online system, as admitted by his own legal team.
On May 16, thousands of Morales supporters marched to the TSE offices to demand the registration of the former president, but without a legal backing or a registered party, the TSE considered his candidacy unfeasible.
Similarly, the Third System Movement (MTS), which is running Senator Andrónico Rodríguez as candidate, is also facing a legal challenge that could suspend its registration. The complaint was filed by Peter Erlwein Beckhauser, who also filed a complained against the MAS-IPSP for alleged irregularities in use of financial resources.
These actions have been considered by President Arce as part of a strategy to expel the principal political forces from the electoral race, which has raised alarms about possible “lawfare” in the electoral process.
The TSE has announced that it will analyze these complaints in the Plenary Chamber before issuing a decision, which adds uncertainty to the process of validation of candidacies.
(Telesur)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/SL
