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This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Bolivia |
Presidency |
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.
Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia is a landlocked country located in western-central South America. The capital is Sucre while the seat of government and financial center is located in La Paz. The largest city and principal industrial center is Santa Cruz de la Sierra, located on the Llanos Orientales a mostly flat region in the east of Bolivia.
Juan Evo Morales Ayma, commonly known as Evo Morales, is a Bolivian politician and cocalero activist who has served as President of Bolivia since 2006. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come from the indigenous population, his administration has focused on the implementation of leftist policies, poverty reduction, and combating the influence of the United States and multinational corporations in Bolivia. A socialist, he is the head of the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party.
The President of Bolivia officially known as the President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is head of state and head of government of Bolivia. According to the current Constitution, the president is elected by popular vote to a five-year term, renewable once. In 2016, in a referendum the country voted to maintain term limits. Since 2009, if no candidate wins a majority, the top two candidates advance to a runoff election. Prior to 2009, if no candidate won half the popular vote, the president was chosen by a vote in a joint legislative session from among the top two candidates.
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.
Bolivia is a unitary state consisting of nine departments. Departments are the primary subdivisions of Bolivia, and possess certain rights under the Constitution of Bolivia. Each department is represented in the federal Plurinational Legislative Assembly—a bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Each department is represented by four Senators, while Deputies are awarded to each state in proportion to their total population.
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.
In economics, shock therapy is the sudden release of price and currency controls, withdrawal of state subsidies, and immediate trade liberalization within a country, usually also including large-scale privatization of previously public-owned assets.
Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada y Sánchez de Bustamante, familiarly known as "Goni", is a Bolivian politician and businessman, who served as President of Bolivia for two non-consecutive terms. He is a lifelong member of the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario (MNR). As Minister of Planning in the government of President Víctor Paz Estenssoro, Sánchez de Lozada used "shock therapy" in 1985 to cut hyperinflation from an estimated 25,000% to a single digit within a period of less than 6 weeks.
Privatization can mean different things including moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when a heavily regulated private company or industry becomes less regulated. Government functions and services may also be privatized; in this case, private entities are tasked with the implementation of government programs or performance of government services that had previously been the purview of state-run agencies. Some examples include revenue collection, law enforcement, and prison management.
These reforms ultimately lead 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. Carlos Mesa temporarily served as interim President.
Carlos Diego Mesa Gisbert is a Bolivian historian and former politician. He was vice president of Bolivia from August 2002 to October 2003 and then became president, holding office from October 17, 2003 until his resignation on June 6, 2005. Mesa previously had been a television journalist. His widespread recognition prompted the MNR candidate Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada to pick him as running mate in the 2002 Bolivian presidential elections. The winning ticket of Sánchez-Mesa took possession on August 6, 2002. As vice president, Mesa quickly was put into a difficult situation when a wave of protests and strikes shut down Bolivia in a bitter dispute known as the Bolivian Gas War. The demonstrations eventually forced Sánchez de Lozada to resign, leaving Mesa 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 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.
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.
Party | Presidential candidate | Votes | % | Seats | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chamber | +/– | Senate | +/– | ||||
Movement for Socialism | Evo Morales | 1,544,374 | 53.74 | 72 | +45 | 12 | +4 |
Social and Democratic Power | Jorge Quiroga | 821,745 | 28.59 | 43 | +39 | 13 | +12 |
National Unity Front | Samuel Jorge Doria Medina Auza | 224,090 | 7.80 | 8 | New | 1 | New |
Revolutionary Nationalist Movement | Michiaki Nagatani Morishita | 185,859 | 6.47 | 7 | – | 1 | – |
Pachakuti Indigenous Movement | Felipe Quispe | 61,948 | 2.16 | 0 | –6 | 0 | 0 |
New Republican Force | Gildo Angulo Cabrera | 19,667 | 0.68 | 0 | –25 | 0 | –2 |
Agrarian Patriotic Front | Eliceo Rodríguez Pari | 8,737 | 0.30 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
Social Union of the Workers of Bolivia | Néstor García Rojas | 7,381 | 0.26 | 0 | New | 0 | New |
Invalid/blank votes | 228,616 | – | – | – | – | – | |
Total | 3,102,417 | 100 | 130 | 0 | 27 | 0 | |
Registered votes/turnout | 3,671,152 | 84.51 | – | – | – | – | |
Source: IFES, IFES |
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.
The politics of Bolivia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president is head of state, head of government and head of a diverse multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament. Both the Judiciary and the electoral branch are independent of the executive and the legislature. After the 2014 election, 53.1% of the seats in national parliament were held by women, a higher proportion of women than that of the population.
The Bolivian gas conflict was a social confrontation in Bolivia reaching its peak in 2003, centering on the exploitation of the country's vast natural gas reserves. The expression can be extended to refer to the general conflict in Bolivia over the exploitation of gas resources, thus including the 2005 protests and the election of Evo Morales as president. Before these protests, Bolivia had seen a series of similar earlier protests during the Cochabamba protests of 2000, which were against the privatization of the municipal water supply.
The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement is a Bolivian political party and the leading force behind the Bolivian National Revolution. It influenced much of the country's history since 1941.
A referendum on natural gas reserves was held in Bolivia on 18 July 2004. Voters were asked five questions on the government's policy on natural gas, with all five approved.
Elections in Bolivia gives information on elections and election results in Bolivia.
The Plurinational Legislative Assembly is the national legislature of Bolivia, placed in La Paz, the country's seat of government.
The Movement Without Fear is a progressive political party in Bolivia. MSM was founded on March 1, 1999.
Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé is a Bolivian judge. During the 2005 political crisis in Bolivia, he briefly assumed the Presidency. Prior to that, he was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
The Movement for Socialism–Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples, alternately referred to as "Movement Toward Socialism" or "Movement to Socialism", is a Bolivian left-wing socialist political movement led by Evo Morales, founded in 1998. Its followers are known as masistas.
Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) is a Bolivian state-owned enterprise dedicated to the exploration, exploitation, refining, industrialization, distribution and commercialization of oil, natural gas and derived products. It was created on December 21, 1936 under a government decree during the presidency of David Toro. YPFB is one of the biggest corporations in Bolivia.
The current Constitution of Bolivia came into effect on February 7, 2009 when it was promulgated by President Evo Morales. after being approved in a referendum with 90.24% participation. The referendum was held on January 25, 2009, and the constitution was approved by 61.43% of voters.
After the fall of Tiwanaku empire, the many Aymara Lake Titicaca were conquered by the Inca empire. Prior to the Spanish conquest, the Andean province of Qullasuyu was a part of the Inca empire, while the northern and eastern lowlands were inhabited by independent nomadic tribes. Spanish conquistadors, arriving from Cuzco and Asunción took control of the region in the 16th century. During most of the Spanish colonial rule, Bolivia was known as Upper Peru and administered by the Royal Audiencia of Charcas. After the 1st call for independence in 1809, 16 years of war followed before the establishment of the Bolivian Republic, named for the Liberator Simón Bolívar, on August 6, 1825. Since then Bolivia has endured regular periods of political and economic instability, including the loss of various provinces to its neighbors, such as Acre, parts of the Gran Chaco and its Pacific coast, making it a land-locked country.
General elections were held in Bolivia on 30 June 2002. As no candidate for the presidency received over 50% of the vote, the National Congress was required to elect a President. Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was elected with 84 votes to the 43 received by Evo Morales.
The history of Bolivia since 1982 begins with the restorations of democracy after the rule of the military junta of 1982. Evo Morales has held the presidency since 2006. A new constitution was enacted in 2009. Bolivia's population has roughly doubled over this period, from 5 million in 1980 to 10 million as of 2012.
Natural gas in Bolivia is one of the nation's main energy sources and export products. Bolivia's proved natural gas reserves are estimated to be 24,800,000,000,000(ft³). Most of these reserves are located in the eastern region of the country. The major export pipelines in Bolivia transport the gas to Argentina and Brazil.
The first Bolivian judicial election was held on 16 October 2011. The national vote was held to elect magistrates to serve on the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, the Plurinational Constitutional Tribunal, the Agro-environmental Tribunal and members of the Council of the Judiciary. It was originally scheduled to be held on 5 December 2010, but officials of the National Electoral Court and of the MAS majority in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly delayed it. The vote will be the first time that a Latin American country directly elects its highest judicial officials.
The Bolivian general election, 2014 was Bolivia's second to take place under the country's 2009 constitution, and the first supervised by the Plurinational Electoral Organ, a newly created fourth branch of government. Incumbent President Evo Morales was re-elected for a third term.