Bolivia: Alert on “institutional coup” attempt by opposition

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On May 18, Bolivian Congressman Juan José Jáuregui denounced that opposition forces are seeking to make the election of the Ombudsman in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly (ALP) of Bolivia unfeasible to carry out an “institutional coup” and to dismantle this public office.

“The assertions, assessments, and positions of opposition leaders are being linked to this possibility that the Ombudsman’s Office will have to be disbanded,” said the member of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) bench in an interview with the state-owned Bolivia TV channel.

Jáuregui warned that the MAS representation would prevent this maneuver and explained that if the election process is further prolonged, there would be two options: to give continuity to the current Ombudsman, Nadia Cruz, or to appoint someone with this “adjunct” responsibility.

On May 18, the sixth ordinary session of the ALP, suspended on May 16 after no candidate achieved 66% of the required votes, will be reinstated.

The day before, attorney Porfirio Machado withdrew his nomination to “pave the way” for the appointment of this authority, and now there are six candidates qualified for the election.

Claudia Andrea Calvo, Luisa Antonia Chipana, Evelin Patricia Cossio, Rubén Julio Estrada, Pedro Francisco Callisaya, and Ramiro Leonardo Iquise are still in the race.

MAS ruled out the possibility of annulling the pre-selection of postulants for the moment.

“As Government and Plurinational Legislative Assembly, we will resort to all instances to guarantee a new ombudsman because this institution cannot be in a vacuum,” said legislator Héctor Arce.

On the other hand, the president of the ALP, David Choquehuanca, called for the reinstatement of its sixth session on May 16 to elect the new occupant of the position.

Through a letter addressed to the heads of the three benches (MAS, Creemos, and Comunidad Ciudadana), he called for the meeting “to resume the path of dialogue and reach solutions that make viable a democratic solution to the issues concerning the election of the Ombudsman”.

With information from Prensa Latina