Evo Morales is re-elected president of Bolivia: opponent does not recognize result

LA PAZ – Bolivian President Evo Morales was reelected in the first round vote on Monday, while his opponent Carlos Mesa points to fraud in the election.

According to official ballot data in Bolivia’s elections, Bolivian President Evo Morales won 46.86% of the vote in the country’s presidential election, avoiding a runoff.

Morales won with a 10.12% margin against his rival Carlos Mesa, who won 36.74% of the votes after 95.09%.

Opponent Carlos Mesa, in turn, accused Bolivia’s electoral authorities of “fraud”, refusing to acknowledge the election results.

The Bolivian government announced Monday that it has invited the international community to observe the electoral process directly, to dispel any doubts about the transparency of the process.

“We are interested in completing the process with all the necessary transparency and, in this context, we are asking international organizations to personally follow the official calculation,” Foreign Minister Diego Pary told a news conference.

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The Foreign Minister made the statement after former President Carlos Mesa, who is vying with current President Evo Morales for the election, accused the election of fraud and called for his militancy to take to the streets. Mesa says a second round is needed to define the outcome of the elections.

Uncertainty was compounded after the vote was halted on Sunday night while Morales led the partial count.

Although there is no official result yet, Morales has already declared himself a winner and Mesa reaffirmed the need for a second round.

Bolivian Foreign Minister Pary said that, following statements by the governments of Brazil, Argentina and the United States expressing interest in clarifying the electoral outcome, the government invited the ambassadors or representatives of these countries to follow the counting of the votes.

The Organization of American States (OAS) has requested explanations from the Bolivian Supreme Electoral Court about the interruption of transmission of preliminary results yesterday evening. The Electoral Observation Mission has 92 observers and follows the elections in Bolivia and the process of publication of results.