Bolivia’s Congress approves new elections without Evo Morales
The move seeks to quell weeks of unrest that left dozens of people dead amid major political crisis.
Both chambers of Bolivia’s Congress have unanimously approved a bill that annuls the result of the country’s presidential vote last month and allows for new elections to be held without former president Evo Morales.
The measure approved forbids candidates from running if they have served in the last two terms, with politicians also agreeing to appoint a new electoral board.
Interim President Jeanine Anez, an opponent of Morales, is expected to sign the bill into law at 14:00 GMT on Sunday.
“I want to thank our parliamentarians for having understood and listened to the demands of the Bolivian people,” Anez wrote on Twitter on Saturday.
Mañana a las 10.00 am promulgaré la “Ley de Régimen excepcional y transitorio para la realización de Elecciones Generales” aprobado por la Asamblea Legislativa.
Quiero agradecer a nuestros parlamentarios por haber entendido y escuchado las demandas del pueblo boliviano. pic.twitter.com/MZuZ1MSQXy
— Jeanine Añez Chavez (@JeanineAnez) November 24, 2019
Translation: Tomorrow at 10:00am I will promulgate the “Law of exceptional and transitory Regime for the holding of General Elections” approved by the Legislative Assembly.
It is the latest development in Bolivia’s weeks-long political crisis in the wake of the October 20 vote that has left more than 30 people dead amid opposition allegations of electoral fraud.
Amid the unrest, Morales stepped down on November 10 after an audit of the Organization of American States (OAS) cited irregularities in the count and the military called on him to quit to help restore calm.
Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president who had been in power for 13 years, fled to Mexico claiming he was the victim of a coup.
But politicians in his Movement to Socialism (MAS) party said they will find a new candidate to run for president in the next elections.
“We have already signed agreements on all the demands they [MAS] are making, and we agreed to those demands,” Jerjes Justiniano, one of Anez’s recently appointed ministers, told Al Jazeera.