Bolivia: Evo unable to register candidacy for August elections

Morales’ supporters announced protests for the coming days

Although former Bolivian President Evo Morales claimed to have registered his candidacy for the Aug. 17 elections, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) disqualified such an application because neither party under which he filed his papers (Evo Pueblo or Pan-Bol) had legal status.

In addition, a Plurinational Constitutional Tribunal ruling last week barred Morales from running again, after holding the office between 2006 and 2019, when presidential terms are limited to two, whether continuous or not. Pan-Bol’s status had been revoked for failing to meet the 3% floor in prior elections.

Morales, facing legal issues including an arrest warrant for a case of child trafficking, remains in Chapare and has announced protests. In a posting on X, Morales insisted that the candidacies of his grouping ”Estamos Volviendo Obedeciendo al Pueblo (Evo Pueblo)“ were submitted in time before a notary public.

”I inform [the citizenry] that our Political Instrument, Evo Pueblo (Estamos Volviendo Obedeciendo al Pueblo), fulfilled the requirements and deadlines established to register our binomial through the digital system of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE). The physical registration -attaching the forms of our candidates and the required original documents- was carried out in the offices of the TSE with the intervention of a Notary Public,” Morales wrote.

On Monday night, lawyer Wilfredo Chavez announced that the Evo Puelo’s list of candidates had been presented by e-mail with the acronym of the Bolivian National Action Party (Pan-Bol). However, since neither “Evo Pueblo” nor Pan-Bol has legal status, Morales would not be able to participate in the elections.

On May 7, the TSE decided to revoke the legal status of Pan-Bol, as well as of the Frente para la Victoria (FPV), because neither achieved 3% of the vote in the last elections.

In this scenario, the registration period ended with the registration of candidates of ten candidacies to be evaluated, TSE Secretary Fernando Arteaga said. “Evo Pueblo is not a party with a valid legal personality, and Pan-Bol has its legal personality cancelled; therefore, they cannot register candidates,” Arteaga also explained.

The Bolivian ruling Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) is thus split into three factions: one aligned with President Luis Arce Catacora and promoting Minister Eduardo del Castillo’s candidacy, one loyal to Morales, and a third supporting Senate Speaker Andrónico Rodríguez.