PEACE.- The Plurinational Constitutional Court of Bolivia annulled the power of indefinite reelection in a ruling that disqualifies former president Evo Morales from running in the 2025 elections having served for three continuous periods between 2006 and 2019.
The ruling, which broadly stipulates that indefinite reelection “is not a human right,” was issued following an advisory opinion from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), without the possibility of appeal, and annuls a ruling issued by the same Constitutional Court in 2017.
The ruling specifies that a president, vice president, deputies or senators They cannot serve more than two terms, either continuously or discontinuously. The opinion also includes governors and mayors who have been elected since the entry into force of the current constitutional text, that is, the year 2009.
Reactions to the sentence
Evo Morales described the decision as political, “It is proof of the complicity of some magistrates with the Black Plan carried out by the government by orders of the empire and with the conspiracy of the Bolivian right,” wrote the former pro-government president on his social network X.
Opponents of the former president, as well as former president Jeanine Añez, celebrated the ruling that “puts an end to Evo Morales’ delirium of being re-elected forever,” she announced on her social network account X.
For his part, the governor of Santa Cruz, Luis Fernando Camacho, valued the sentence as an impediment so that no “apprentice tyrant tramples on the vote or ignores a referendum and ends up committing fraud with the sole intention of perpetuating himself in power.”
Camacho is being investigated for the protests he led in 2019 after electoral fraud in the general elections that was confirmed after an investigation by the Organization of American States (OAS). The then president Evo Morales, who modified the Constitution and was seeking a fourth consecutive term, was forced to resign after massive demonstrations throughout the country that left 37 dead in 21 days of street clashes.
Friction between Evo Morales and Luis Arce
Leftist leader Evo Morales had already announced his intention to compete for the presidency of Bolivia in the elections scheduled for 2025. This announcement comes amid growing tension with the government headed by his former political protégé, Luis Arce.
Through his social networks, Morales had expressed his decision to run to lead Bolivia again, declaring: “We have decided to respond to the requests of our base and so many compatriots who have urged us to be a candidate for the presidency of our beloved Bolivia.”
The crisis within the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) reached its peak with the expulsion of the current president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, who led the party to victory in the 2020 elections.
The rivalry between Morales and Arce has been growing over the last year, exacerbated by Morales’ criticism of the Arce government, alleging betrayal, corruption and tolerance for drug trafficking.
While the political struggle between both ruling parties intensifies, the country is experiencing an economic crisis with a shortage of dollars and the drop in exports of its main products.
Source: EUROPA PRESS
