2005 Bolivian general election

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2005 Bolivian general election
Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
  2002 18 December 2005 2009  
Registered3,671,152
Turnout84.50% (Increase2.svg 12.61pp)
Presidential election
  Evo Morales 2011.jpg Jorge Quiroga. Suarez, Antonio. 2001, Antonio Suarez collection, La Paz (Cropped).png
Nominee Evo Morales Jorge Quiroga
Party MAS-IPSP Podemos
Running mate Álvaro García Linera María Duchen
Popular vote1,544,374821,745
Percentage53.74%28.59%

  SamuelDM.png 3x4.svg
Nominee Samuel Doria Medina Michiaki Nagatani
Party UN MNR
Running mateCarlos DabdoubGuillermo Bedregal
Popular vote224,090185,859
Percentage7.80%6.47%

Mapa Electoral de Bolivia por Departamentos 2005.png
Mapa Electoral de Bolivia por Provincias 2005.png

President before election

Eduardo Rodríguez (interim)
Independent

Elected President

Evo Morales
MAS-IPSP

Legislative election

All 36 seats in the Chamber of Senators
All 130 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
PartySeats+/–
Chamber of Senators
Podemos 13New
MAS-IPSP 12+4
UN 1New
MNR 1−9
Chamber of Deputies
MAS-IPSP 72+45
Podemos 43New
UN 8New
MNR 7−29
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

General elections were held in Bolivia on 18 December 2005. Evo Morales of the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party was elected President of Bolivia with 54% of the vote, the first time a candidate had received an absolute majority since the flawed 1978 elections. Morales was sworn in on 22 January 2006 for a five-year term. The MAS also won a majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies and emerged as the largest party in the Senate.

Contents

Simultaneously voters elected prefects, the highest executive office in each of Bolivia's nine departments. This was the first time the office had been chosen at the ballot box. Subsequently, departmental elections were held separately from national elections, with the next one held in April 2010.

Background

In the early 2000s there were high levels of political instability across the country, including five presidents in four years. Much of the instability dates back to the economic reforms otherwise known as "shock therapy" implemented by President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada whereby many formerly public utilities were privatized.

These reforms ultimately led to the First Bolivian Gas War in October 2003 where protesters, many of them of indigenous descent, essentially forced the resignation of Sánchez de Lozada. Vice President Carlos Mesa took office as president.

In his year in office, Mesa held a national referendum on the prospect of the nationalization of the hydrocarbons industry which he claimed to have won. Critics however said that the questions were vague and ambiguous with regard to outright nationalization of the hydrocarbons industry.

In May 2005 the Second Bolivian Gas War began after Congress agreed to raise taxes on foreign companies from 18% to 32%. The unions, led by Evo Morales, felt the law did not go far enough and effectively shut down the country, blockading major roads and cutting off the food supplies of several large cities.

In June 2005 the protests ultimately led to Mesa's resignation. Supreme Court Chief Justice Eduardo Rodríguez assumed the position of interim President of the Republic after the presidents of both the Senate and Chamber of Deputies declined the position and Rodríguez was fourth in line of succession.

Viewed as an apolitical figure, Rodríguez was welcomed by protesters and called for the presidential elections slated to take place in 2007 to be brought forward to December 2005.

Electoral system

Voters had two ballots: a national-level ballot to elect the president and the nationally elected members of Congress, and one for members of Congress elected in single-member constituencies in the Chamber of Deputies. Senators and deputies were returned on a departmental basis; senators were elected on a majoritarian basis, with the first-place party receiving two and the second-place party one, while deputies were elected on a mixed-member basis, with district deputies joining list deputies awarded by compensatory proportional representation. However, there was no national distribution of seats.

Voting was compulsory for all Bolivians over the age of 18, but Bolivians living abroad were not able to take part.

Results

President

CandidateRunning matePartyVotes%
Evo Morales Álvaro García Linera Movement for Socialism 1,544,37453.74
Jorge Quiroga María Duchen Social and Democratic Power 821,74528.59
Samuel Doria Medina Carlos Dabdoub National Unity Front 224,0907.80
Michiaki NagataniGuillermo Bedregal Revolutionary Nationalist Movement 185,8596.47
Felipe Quispe Camila Choqueticlla Pachakuti Indigenous Movement 61,9482.16
Gildo Angulo CabreraGonzalo Quiroga New Republican Force 19,6670.68
Eliceo Rodríguez PariRodolfo FloresAgrarian Patriotic Front8,7370.30
Néstor García RojasJulio Antonio UzquianoSocial Union of the Workers of Bolivia7,3810.26
Total2,873,801100.00
Valid votes2,873,80192.63
Invalid votes104,5703.37
Blank votes124,0464.00
Total votes3,102,417100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,671,15284.51
Source: IFES, IFES

Chamber of Deputies

Camara de Diputados de Bolivia elecciones 2005.svg
PartyProportionalConstituencyTotal
seats
+/–
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
Movement for Socialism 1,544,37453.7427968,12043.524572+45
Social and Democratic Power 821,74528.5921625,23028.102243+39
National Unity Front 224,0907.807260,29011.7018New
Revolutionary Nationalist Movement 185,8596.475179,3198.0627
Pachakuti Indigenous Movement 61,9482.16073,4993.3000–6
New Republican Force 19,6670.68053,6342.4100–25
Agrarian Patriotic Front8,7370.30048,3222.1700New
Social Union of the Workers of Bolivia7,3810.26016,2980.7300New
Total2,873,801100.00602,224,712100.00701300
Valid votes2,873,80192.632,224,71271.91
Invalid votes104,5703.3790,0162.91
Blank votes124,0464.00779,15225.18
Total votes3,102,417100.003,093,880100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,671,15284.513,671,15284.28
Source: Election Passport, IPU

Chamber of Senators

Senado de Bolivia elecciones 2005.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Movement for Socialism 1,544,37453.7412+4
Social and Democratic Power 821,74528.5913+12
National Unity Front 224,0907.801New
Revolutionary Nationalist Movement 185,8596.471
Pachakuti Indigenous Movement 61,9482.1600
New Republican Force 19,6670.680–2
Agrarian Patriotic Front8,7370.300New
Social Union of the Workers of Bolivia7,3810.260New
Total2,873,801100.00270
Valid votes2,873,80192.63
Invalid votes104,5703.37
Blank votes124,0464.00
Total votes3,102,417100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,671,15284.51
Source: IFES, IFES

Aftermath

Morales claimed his victory marked Bolivia's first election of an indigenous head of state, but this claim generated controversy, [1] due to the number of mestizo presidents who came before him, [2] and was challenged publicly by such figures as Mario Vargas Llosa, [3] who accused Morales of fomenting racial divisions in an increasingly mestizo Latin America.

References

  1. "¿Evo indígena o mestizo?". Bolpress. 2006-01-01. Archived from the original on 2007-06-08. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
  2. Mesa, José, Gisbert, Teresa, Mesa Gisbert, Carlos D. Historia de Bolivia: Segunda Edición corregida y actualizada. Editorial Gisbert. La Paz, 1998.
  3. "Vargas Llosa: "un nuevo racismo"". BBC Mundo. 2006-01-21.