Morales’ party names election runners for Bolivia vote

LA PAZ: A former foreign minister and a coca farmer are the front-runners to be on the ticket for exiled Bolivian President Evo Morales’ political party in the May elections in the South American country, officials said on Friday. Former Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca, an Aymara Indian, was picked as the presidential candidate for the Movement to Socialism (MAS) party in the vote, which will serve as a re-run of a disputed October election. Coca farmer Andronico Rodriguez, a disciple of Morales, will join the ticket as the vice presidential candidate, MAS official and union leader Theodore Mamani confirmed to Reuters, adding the selection was made on Thursday by party consensus. The choice by the party organizations, however, may need to be rubber stamped by Morales himself, currently exiled in Argentina. Morales, who was Bolivia’s first indigenous president, is also Aymara and grew to prominence as a union leader for coca farmers. Morales tweeted later in the day a document saying the two were “pre-candidates” along with two other of his close allies. Senior MAS party officials are scheduled to meet this weekend in Buenos Aires, where Morales, who is barred from running for president again, is currently living in asylum. The ticket must formalize its participation in the election to the electoral tribunal by Feb. 3. Choquehuanca, 58, is a veteran