Luis Escobar / La Paz
Yelka Maric was inaugurated yesterday as the new president of the Municipal Council of La Paz. The election allowed alternation and gender equity, two postulates raised by Lourdes Chambilla to occupy the position and whose aspiration was truncated. Javier Escalier, from MAS, held the vice presidency and Óscar Sogliano was ratified for the second year as secretary.
Yesterday’s session was called for 10:00 and was delayed 50 minutes to await the arrival of Councilor Chambilla. The wait was made despite the fact that the remaining 10 councilors, from the MAS and For the Common Good, were already in the Mayor’s Office. Chambilla entered the session room agitated. “They’re going to excuse the delay, I’ve got bottled up,” she said, referring to traffic congestion.
Immediately after, the whistles of the attending public arose. Jorge Dulón, who until then served as president of the Council, issued a threat. “Please, I ask you to keep order. Otherwise, I will ask the Municipal Guard to remove them”, he stated.
The election of the board should have been held on Tuesday afternoon, but it was cut short. The majority party and Mayor Iván Arias, For the Common Good, nominated Lucio Quispe to occupy the presidency of the Council. However, Lourdes Chambilla, who is also a member of the alliance, presented her candidacy for the same position. This fact left Quispe with five votes and no majority. The MAS took advantage of this division to nominate Pierre Chaín for the presidency, a fact that alarmed Mayor Iván Arias.
The mayor described Rafael “Tata” Quispe, who is coordinator of Councilor Chambilla, as a traitor and accused the MAS of promoting a “coup.”
On Wednesday the session was reinstated, but it was not possible to advance in the election of the new directive either. Chambilla left the session room before casting his vote, leaving the 10 councilors unable to continue. They only managed to ask for a new intermediate room.
“I will continue with my candidacy for president. I’m not going to back down. For gender equality, it is my responsibility to be president this year. The previous administration (Jorge) Dulón held that position and (the secretary, Óscar) Sogliano,” said Chambilla, after the suspension of Wednesday’s session.
The Mayor’s party called that same day a meeting of the board of directors of the alliance with Tata Quispe, Mayor Iván Arias, councilors and other members. The debate began at noon yesterday and lasted until 10:00 p.m.
Yesterday at 9:30, the five majority councilors, without Chambilla, gave a press conference. They explained the results of the meeting and the agreement they reached to nominate Maric for the presidency. Dulón excused the absence of legislator Chambilla alleging that she had “family problems.”
After this difficult negotiation, Maric stated that “the discrepancies must add up (…)”. “We have found a consensus and Lourdes Chambilla will surely be by my side,” he said. Asked if there was a dissidence, she replied: “She is not a dissident, she never was. Instead he was uncompromising, that’s the only adjective I would dare mention.”
Chambilla -for his part- said that he will not fight for the presidency. “I love that she is a woman president,” she said. Asked if she would be president in the future, she replied: “That stayed, but we will have to see.”
a heated debate
- Dialogue Mayor Iván Arias said that he achieved the unity of the caucus For the Common Good We Are People with “firmness and consultation”. The authority held a 10-hour meeting “of criticism and self-criticism” with Tata Quispe and assured that in a consensual manner it was determined that Councilor Yelka Maric be the president of the Municipal Council of La Paz for the period 2022 – 2023.
