Bolivian general election, 2009

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Bolivian general election, 2009
Flag of Bolivia.svg
  2005 December 6, 2009 2014  

  Morales 20060113 02.jpg EscudoPPBCNbol.jpg SamuelDM.png
Nominee Evo Morales Manfred Reyes Villa Samuel Doria Medina
Party MAS-IPSP PPB-CN National Unity
Running mate Álvaro García Linera Leopoldo Fernández Carlos Fernando Dabdoub Arrien
Popular vote2,917,665 1,210,721 257,341
Percentage64.08% 26.59% 5.65%

President before election

Evo Morales
MAS-IPSP

Elected President

Evo Morales
MAS-IPSP

The Bolivian general election, 2009 was held on December 6, 2009, [1] following a constitutional referendum held on 25 January 2009. [2] Voters elected:

Contents

President of Bolivia position

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.

Vice President of Bolivia

The Vice President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia or Vice President of Bolivia, is the second highest political position in Bolivia. The Vice President replaces the President in his definitive absence or others impediment and is the President of the Legislative Assembly.

The five departments which had not already done so all voted to have departmental autonomy. Eleven municipalities voted to have indigenous autonomy, out of twelve holding such referendums. [3] One province voted to have regional autonomy.

Presidential election

Under the new constitution, all previous terms will not be considered for term limits. If any candidate fails to win over 50% of the vote and another candidate is within 10%, a second round will be held. It was the first time that an incumbent President will run for reelection.

Candidates

The presidential candidates are:

Evo Morales Bolivian politician

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.

Movement for Socialism (Bolivia) Bolivian political party

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.

Manfred Reyes Villa is a Bolivian politician, former military officer, and a successful businessman. He was elected mayor of the city of Cochabamba four consecutive times, and became the first elected Governor of the Department of Cochabamba from 2006 until 2008 when his mandate was revoked by president Evo Morales. He was the second runner in both for the Presidential elections of the Republic in 2002 and 2009. Reyes-Villa currently Resides in Washington DC area Due to illegitimate accusations by Dictator Morales who does not take the case to international court, since no basis exists to find him guilty. The ex-prefect of Cochabamba, Manfred Reyes Villa, is the leader of the opposition and the preferred candidate for the 2020 presidential elections.

Senado de Bolivia elecciones 2009.svg
Composition of the Senate
Camara de Diputados de Bolivia elecciones 2009.svg
Composition of the Chamber of Deputies
  MAS
  PPB-CN
  UN
  AS

Opinion polling

Polling prior to the election indicated that incumbent Evo Morales enjoyed a 55% approval rating, as well as an 18-point lead over his closest challenger Manfred Reyes Villa. [4] As Morales was expected to cruise to reelection, the local press reported that Villa has already purchased an airplane ticket to the United States for the 7th (the day after the election). [4]

Results

Election result by department:
Departments where Morales won
Departments where Reyes won 2009 Bolivian elections map.png
Election result by department:
  Departments where Morales won
  Departments where Reyes won

Evo Morales won a convincing victory, with 64.22% of the vote. His party, Movement for Socialism, won a two-thirds majority in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.

CandidatePartyVotesPercentageDeputiesSenators
  Evo Morales Ayma Movement for Socialism 2.943.209 64,22 88 26
  Manfred Reyes Villa Plan Progress for Bolivia – National Convergence 1.212.795 26,46 37 10
  Samuel Doria Medina National Unity Front 258.971 5,65 3
  René Joaquino Carlos Social Alliance 106.027 2,31 2
  Ana María Flores Social Patriotic Unity Movement 23.257 0,51
  Román Loayza People 15.627 0,34
  Alejo Véliz Peoples for Liberty and Sovereignty 12.995 0,28
  Rime Choquehuanca Social Democratic Bolivia 9.905 0,22
 Valid votes4.582.78694,31
 Blank votes156.2903,22
 Null votes120,3642,48
 Total votes4.859.44010013036
Source: Comisión Nacional Electoral

Autonomy referendums

Departments

The five departments which had not already done so all voted to become autonomous departments. Each will have to produce a statute of autonomy. They were:

Regional autonomy

The Gran Chaco Province in Tarija held a referendum on regional autonomy, which was approved by 80.4% of voters. [6]

Municipalities

The following municipalities voted on whether to become autonomous municipalities according to the Indigenous Originary Campesino Autonomy provisions of the 2009 Constitution. Eleven voted yes:

One municipality voted no:

Related Research Articles

Politics of Bolivia

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.

Cochabamba Department Department in Bolivia

Cochabamba, from Quechua qucha or qhucha, meaning "lake", pampa meaning "plain", is one of the nine departments of Bolivia. It is known to be the "granary" of the country because of its variety of agricultural products from its geographical position. It has an area of 55,631 km². Its population in the 2012 census was 1,758,143. Its capital is the city of Cochabamba, known as the "City of Eternal Spring" and "The Garden City" because of its spring-like temperatures all year.

Elections in Bolivia

Elections in Bolivia gives information on elections and election results in Bolivia.

Movement Without Fear political party

The Movement Without Fear is a progressive political party in Bolivia. MSM was founded on March 1, 1999.

The Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia,, is a national representative organization of the Bolivian indigenous movement. It was founded in October 1982 in Santa Cruz de la Sierra as the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of the Bolivian East, with the participation of representatives of four indigenous peoples of the Bolivian East: Guarani-Izoceños, Chiquitanos, Ayoreos and Guarayos.

National Unity Front Bolivian political party

The National Unity Front is a political party in Bolivia. It was founded in late 2003 by Samuel Jorge Doria Medina Auza, who had broken with the Revolutionary Left Movement earlier that year. It has thirty six members of the Chamber of Deputies in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly. Despite its substantial share of the urban vote, and sixteen former mayors, it does not control any city halls or governorships. The party is closely identified with Doria Medina's cement company Sociedad Boliviana de Cemento (Soboce).

Media Luna geographic region of Bolivia

The Media Luna or Media Luna Ampliada refers to a group of four departments – Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando, and Tarija – in Bolivia which became the geographic area of opposition to the national government led by Evo Morales and the Movement for Socialism (MAS).

Bolivian Constituent Assembly of 2006–07

The Bolivian Constituent Assembly, convened on August 6, 2006 in Sucre, with the purpose of drafting a new national constitution by December 14, 2007; extended from the original deadline of August 6, 2007. The Assembly approved the new Political Constitution of the State on 9 December 2007. It was put to a national referendum held on 25 January 2009, and went into force on 7 February 2009.

Outline of Bolivia

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Bolivia:

2008 Bolivian vote of confidence referendum

A vote of confidence in President Evo Morales in the form of a referendum was held in Bolivia on 10 August 2008. The vote was held to determine whether Morales, Vice President Álvaro García Linera, and eight out of nine departmental Prefects should stay in office. Morales received more than 67% support and six of the eight prefects were returned. The prefects of Cochabamba Department and La Paz Department were defeated and had to face re-election.

Tarabuco Municipality Municipality in Chuquisaca Department, Bolivia

Tarabuco Municipality is the first municipal section of the Yamparáez Province in the Chuquisaca Department, Bolivia. Its seat is Tarabuco. Its population is overwhelmingly indigenous: of 10,530 people 15 or older in the 2001 Census, 9,834 self-identified with an indigenous people; 9,779 to the Quechua people, 29 Aymara, 15 to another indigenous people, and 7 as Guaraní. On 6 December 2009, its residents voted in favor of indigenous autonomy for the municipality, with a vote of 90.8%.

2010 Bolivian regional elections

The 2010 Bolivian regional elections were held on 4 April 2010. Departmental and municipal authorities were elected by an electorate of approximately 5 million people. Among the officials elected are:

Plan Progress for Bolivia – National Convergence

Plan Progress for Bolivia – National Convergence was a coalition that was Bolivia's largest national opposition political party following the 2009 general elections. PPB-CN is a Bolivian political alliance of the right-wing formed in advance of the 2009 elections. The alliance was created at a meeting in La Paz's Zona Sur on 4 September 2009 by New Republican Force represented by Manfred Reyes Villa, Plan Progress for Bolivia, represented by José Luis Paredes, the former prefect of La Paz department; Autonomy for Bolivia led by Luis Alberto Serrate Middagh; Peoples Party led by Pablo Nicolás Camacho Bedregal; and the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement, led by Guillermo Bedregal Gutiérrez. However, the alliance did not continue to function in Bolivia's 2014 elections, and several of its elected senators stated in late 2013 that its role is ending.

Usos y costumbres is a legal term denoting indigenous customary law in Latin America. Since the era of Spanish colonialism, authorities have recognized local forms of rulership, self governance, and juridical practice, with varying degrees of acceptance and formality. The term is often used in English without translation.

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.

Presidency of Evo Morales

The Presidency of Evo Morales began on January 22, 2006 when Evo Morales was inaugurated as the 80th President of Bolivia, following his victory in the 2005 general election, where he won 53.7% of the vote, defeating Jorge Quiroga, Samuel Doria Medina, and several other candidates. Morales increased taxation on the hydrocarbon industry to bolster social spending, emphasising projects to combat illiteracy, poverty, racism, and sexism. Vocally criticizing neoliberalism and reducing Bolivia's dependence on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, his administration oversaw strong economic growth while following a policy termed "Evonomics" which sought to move from a liberal economic approach to a mixed economy. Scaling back U.S. influence in the country, he built relationships with leftist governments in the Latin American pink tide and signed Bolivia into the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas. Attempting to moderate the left-indigenous activist community, his administration also opposed the right-wing autonomist demands of Bolivia's eastern provinces. Winning a recall referendum in 2008, he instituted a new constitution that established Bolivia as a plurinational state and was re-elected in 2009. His second term witnessed the continuation of leftist policies and Bolivia's joining of the Bank of the South and Community of Latin American and Caribbean States; he was again reelected in the 2014 general election.

The National Council of Ayllus and Markas of Qullasuyu is a confederation of traditional governing bodies of Quechua-, Aymara- and Uru-speaking highland indigenous communities in the departments of La Paz, Oruro, Potosí, Cochabamba, Chuquisaca and Tarija, Bolivia. Specifically, it represents the following 16 suyus: Jacha Carangas, Jatun Quillacas, Asamajaquis, Charcas Qara Qara, Council of Ayllus of Potosí, Qara Qara Suyu, Sora, Kallawaya, Leco, Larecaja, Colla, Chui, Paca Jake, Ayllus of Cochabamba, Kapaj Omasuyus and Yapacaní. CONAMAQ was founded on March 22, 1997, with the purpose of restoring the self-governance of "original nations" including "collective rights to land and natural resources, re-definition of administrative units and self-determination exercised through indigenous autonomies and direct representation in state institutions." CONAMAQ is a member of the National Coordination for Change, and of the Andean Coordination of Indigenous Organizations. It was a member of the Pact of Unity in Bolivia from its founding until December 2011.

Kunturiri may refer to:

Wila Qullu may refer to:

References

  1. "Bolivien: Einigung über Verfassungsreferendum". Die Presse (in German). APA. 21 October 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
  2. "Bolivia set for constitution vote". BBC News . 22 October 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
  3. 1 2 Diego Andrés Chávez Rodríguez, "La Autonomía Indígena Originario Campesina: Entre la formalidad y la autodeterminación," Diálogos en Democracia, 21 March 2010 (Supplement to Pulso Bolivia).
  4. 1 2 "Morales keeps faith with populism ahead of Bolivia poll". FT. 5 Dec 2009. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
  5. La Bolivia autonómica, Los Tiempos (Cochabamba), edición especial, 6 August 2010
  6. Ministerio de Autonomías, "Región Autónoma Chaco Tarijeño Archived 2011-04-28 at the Wayback Machine .."
  7. "Las autonomías indígenas avanzan a paso lento per seguro, entre consensos e interrogantes" Diálogos en Democracia, 21 March 2010 (Supplement to Pulso Bolivia).