Bolivians are called upon today by President Luis Arce to reaffirm their democratic vocation in the second electoral round scheduled for 19 October next, following the general elections held yesterday.
«I greet and congratulate every Bolivian woman and man who (…) went to the polls to exercise their right and civic duty to our Homeland, and to democratically elect the next president of our Plurinational State of Bolivia,» wrote the head of state on his social media.
According to data from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s (TSE) Preliminary Results Transmission System (Sirepre), Rodrigo Paz of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) and Jorge Tuto Quiroga of the Free Alliance will contest the runoff on 19 October.
For these elections, more than 7.9 million Bolivians were called to the polls, both in Bolivia and in 22 countries worldwide.
Although a second round will be necessary, the composition of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly (ALP) was defined this Sunday, in which after 20 years the right wing will hold a majority.
Regarding the runoff, Arce affirmed that the Bolivian people now have the floor.
«We are sure that in the second round, our population will once again reaffirm that Bolivians resolve our problems through peaceful means, demonstrating anew that democratic vocation which has always characterised us. Democracy prevailed! (…),» he stated on his X account.
Yesterday, the head of state assured that on 8 November next, after fulfilling his constitutional mandate, he will hand over the presidential sash to the newly elected head of state during the inauguration.
«(…) According to the calendar set by the TSE, we will fulfil that schedule, in accordance with the Constitution (…). We will deliver to our country, in this its Bicentennial, a democratic exit and a democratic transition,» he confirmed in a brief statement to the press after voting at the Miguel de Cervantes educational unit in the Miraflores area of La Paz.
Arce recalled that in 2020, during the de facto government of Jeanine Áñez, he cast his vote amid «police-military harassment» and asserted that there had been an attempt then to «sabotage» the elections and his «electoral victory».
By way of contrast, he emphasised that his Government «has fulfilled what the people mandated in 2020: to recover democracy».
He insisted that not only were democratic precepts recovered, but they were also preserved despite everything, and «a democratic exit and a democratic transition» would be delivered to the country «in this its bicentennial».
The head of state highlighted the consolidation of this electoral process with the expression «today we went to elections despite many not believing and some not wanting it».
