Electoral court postpones Bolivia general election

LA PAZ: Bolivia´s Supreme Electoral Tribunal announced on Saturday it was indefinitely postponing May´s general election due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Voters were due to head to the polls on May 3 to elect a permanent successor to former president Evo Morales, who resigned in November. Interim President Jeanine Anez had announced earlier on Saturday a two-week total quarantine to begin on Sunday.The court said in a statement that it hoped for a “broad and pluralistic dialogue with all the political organizations participating in the process” to determine “a new date” in 2020.

October´s general election was annulled after an audit by the Organization of American States found clear evidence it had been rigged.Socialist Morales had controversially won the election but that led to three weeks of at times violent protests before he resigned and fled the country. Conservative Anez, who had been the Senate vice-president until then, assumed the interim presidency with a mandate to organize new elections. Morales has been barred from standing for president again or seeking a seat in the Senate. Most of the eight presidential candidates had suggested the election be postponed and even suspended campaigning to prevent the congregation of large groups of people.