RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Bolivia’s interim President Jeanine Áñez has quit the presidential election scheduled for October 18th.
She said she did not want to split the vote and see the return to office of ex-President Evo Morales’ MAS socialist party. MAS candidate Luis Arce, the Finance Minister under Morales, is leading in opinion polls, with Áñez trailing in fourth place.
Áñez was sworn in last year, after Morales resigned and fled the country amid allegations of electoral fraud.
Morales, who currently lives in Argentina, later said he was forced into exile by the police and the military. Morales served as Bolivia’s president for almost 14 years, from 2006 to 2019, after winning three consecutive elections.
How did Jeanine Áñez explain her decision?
In a video message, Áñez said: “Today I put aside my candidacy for the presidency of Bolivia, for the sake of democracy.” She said she decided to drop out because of “the risk that the vote is divided among several candidates, and that as a result of that division, the MAS candidate would end up winning.”
“If we don’t unite, Morales will return. If we don’t unite, democracy loses,” Áñez added, without saying which candidate she would now be backing.
A poll published earlier this week suggested that Luis Arce could win the election in the first round, by winning at least 40% of the total votes, with more than a 10% margin over the second-most-voted candidate.
Source: BBC