Bolivia elections - 2019-2020 - Arce Victory

[Antonio the Sixth]

Glad to see the obvious racist go down in flames. Mesa definitely seems like a step in the right direction for the anti-Morales camp, and there are a lot of legitimate reasons to conclude that Morales' time has gone, but ultimately I'd still rather he won this one. I don't trust the opposition not to undermine his accomplishments.

[Antonio the Sixth]

So the "official" results say no runoff. Yikes. I thought Evo was the lesser evil, but if he truly had a hand in rigging the votes he has to go.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Good on Evo for doing the right thing. Now everybody needs to calm down and deescalate the situation. Make sure the authority in charge of the election is fully independent, and let it run its course.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I'm glad we avoided the pro-Morales coup, but this is looking more and more like an anti-Morales coup...

[Antonio the Sixth]

The Senate and the House have both unanimously passed a law calling for new elections under an exceptional one-time-only rules, neither Evo not his VP Álvaro García Linera will be allowed to run. No official date has been set AFAIK, but the new elections will take place somewhere in the next 120 days (and it has to be in 2020)

The results of the October elections are now officially void

Camacho said he may run for president

Calling it now, these elections are going to be rigged in favor of the right. And the OAS will have nothing to say about it.

[Antonio the Sixth]

(she resigned to avoid being president during the hardest moment of the resignation/coup protests)

What a polite way to put it.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Oh God, now that's a terrifying thought.

Is there actually an outbreak in Bolivia, or are they just afraid one might come?

[Antonio the Sixth]

But remember folks, Morales is the real authoritarian.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Uhhhh. The % of precincts counted had reached 99.96% last night, but this morning it's been going down (99.86 a few hours ago, 99.79 now). Any clue what's going on with that?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Uhhhh. The % of precincts counted had reached 99.96% last night, but this morning it's been going down (99.86 a few hours ago, 99.79 now). Any clue what's going on with that?

Now 99.27%. Anyone know what's going on?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Uhhhh. The % of precincts counted had reached 99.96% last night, but this morning it's been going down (99.86 a few hours ago, 99.79 now). Any clue what's going on with that?

Now 99.27%. Anyone know what's going on?

If I had to guess, they’re trying to ensure that MAS won’t have a senate supermajority

I doubt it. It's 99.29% now and if you compare with the 99.96% count MAS has gained 0.1%, CC has gained 0.09%, Creemos has lost 0.19% and Chung's National Action Party of Bolivia has gained 0.01%.

Continuing to fall, now down under 99%. But yeah, it seems that the precincts affected by this are more right-leaning ones, so it doesn't sound like Arce's lead is at risk (unless the right-wingers are suddenly "finding" tons of new ballots, but that seems unlikely at this point).

Still would love to hear from someone familiar with the counting process if they have an idea what's going on.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Yep! We finally have the complete, 100% count.

Arce 55.10% (+8.02)
Mesa 28.83% (-7.68)
Camacho 14.00% (new)
Hyun Chung 1.55% (-7.23)

What a beautiful triumph. And it has important policy implications: based on the 2019 results, MAS would have lost its majority in the lower house, but with this numbers they should hold a comfortable majority. So in a way, the coup has arguably strengthened MAS' hand (in addition to fostering a change in leadership which is probably healthy in and of itself for the party). Of course, the price to pay was one year of thuggish crackdowns, corruption and incompetence that have brought the country to its knees. So I'm definitely not saying it was worth it. Still, if there's one person who can fix this mess, it's probably the economy minister who oversaw the boom of the past decade and a half.

Checkmate, golpistas. The Bolivian working-class has reclaimed its freedom.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Luis Arce is president. Democracy is officially back in Bolivia.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Morales needs to accept that he's not in charge anymore and that Bolivian socialism can go on without him. He's done an immeasurable amount of good for the country, and yes, by every right he should be president right now, but the fact that the country in 2019 was vulnerable to a right-wing coup is at least in part a testament to his obstinacy, and MAS can only fully recover by being willing to turn the page.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Felipe Quispe died of a heart attack two days ago. He left a very long and historic legacy of fighting for the indigenous people(s) of Bolivia until the very end.

What a shame. His voice was more needed now than ever. I hope others take up the fight - MAS needs to be kept on its toes on Indigenous issues.

Rest in peace.