LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) 鈥 Bolivia鈥檚 top electoral tribunal on Tuesday disqualified former President Evo Morales from running in the August presidential vote and suspended the candidacy of the other main leftist contender, immediately vaulting President Luis Arce鈥檚 governing socialist party into the ranks of front-runners despite its unpopularity.
The moves targeted the two strongest leftist challengers to Arce’s nominee: Morales, Bolivia鈥檚 who governed the country from 2006 until his ouster in 2019, and Andr贸nico Rodr铆guez, the young Senate president who hails from Morales’ rural coca-growing bastion.
Both Morales and Rodr铆guez vowed to fight the decisions and condemned them as a blow to the Andean nation鈥檚 fragile democracy.
鈥淭he parties that want to support me have been persecuted,鈥 Morales, who still commands stronghold, told a local radio show. 鈥淭he battle is not lost. We will wage a social and legal battle.鈥
On social media, he voiced alarm over 鈥渢he grave threat facing democracy today.鈥
Morales if the electoral tribunal bars him from the race, in the run-up to the deeply polarized vote scheduled for Aug. 17.
President Arce dismissed their criticism, asking only that 鈥渢he electoral dispute not generate political and economic instability.”
Rodr铆guez 鈥 a fresh-faced 36-year-old candidate who generated excitement among voters disillusioned with and outraged with Arce鈥檚 handling of 鈥 also called for protests against what he called 鈥渁 political decision鈥 to suspend his candidacy.
鈥淣o ruling or judicial decision driven by political interests can overrule the sovereign will of the people,鈥 he wrote on X.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal gave narrow, technical reasons for the decisions as the window closed for candidates to register their political parties.
A power struggle and finance minister, President Arce, has fractured their dominant Movement Toward Socialism party, or MAS, forcing Morales to break off and create his own political party.
Arce, whose popularity has plunged as inflation surges and fuel shortages paralyze the country, last week and nominated his senior minister, Eduardo del Castillo, as the MAS party candidate.
A stern-faced lawyer and loyalist of Arce who oversaw over the last year, Del Castillo has struggled to summon the kind of support enjoyed by Morales and Rodr铆guez.
Divisions are also splitting the vote on the right, which has left the anti-MAS movement without a clear front-runner to seize on what could otherwise be the opposition鈥檚 first real shot at victory after almost two decades of left-wing rule.
According to the list published Tuesday by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the successfully registered opposition candidates include Samuel Doria Medina, 66, a former cement tycoon notorious for his multiple unsuccessful presidential bids.
There’s also Jorge 鈥淭uto鈥 Quiroga, who promoted market-friendly reforms as president from 2001-2002 after serving as vice president to the late military dictator, Hugo Banzer, in a government accused of widespread human rights abuses.
鈥淢orales is out of the race,鈥 Tahuichi Tahuichi, a member of the board, declared on Tuesday.
Morales鈥 disqualification, though controversial, had been expected. His recently formed political faction, 鈥淓vo Pueblo,鈥 lacks official party status, the electoral tribunal said, while an allied party that planned to host his candidacy failed to meet other legal requirements.
Even as Morales continued to insist on the legitimacy of his candidacy, a divisive ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal that bans citizens from running for more than two presidential terms also complicates his path back to the presidency.
Some analysts see that ruling 鈥 made by Arce-allied judges that 鈥 as emblematic of how the judiciary in Bolivia has been undermined by political wrangling.
鈥淎rce benefited from the rapid deterioration of the already weak justice system, failed to enact desperately needed reforms and manipulated the courts to his advantage,” said Kathryn Ledebur, director of the Andean Information Network, a Bolivian research group.
鈥淭his lack of due process and rule of law make the upcoming elections a free-for-all with an unpredictable, unsustainable outcome.鈥
More surprising was the tribunal’s decision to suspend Rodr铆guez鈥檚 candidacy pending a hearing on the legality of his political alliance. Judges accepted his appeal and set a first tribunal session for Wednesday.
The new constraints on the candidates also drew criticism even from officials within the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.
鈥淭he democratic system is at risk by legal actions affecting the normal development of elections,鈥 wrote Francisco Vargas, a member of the electoral body. 鈥淚 am alerting the country and the international community.鈥
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DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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