Paz will take office on November 8, beginning a five-year mandate, in which his main task will be to provide a solution to the country’s economic crisis, hit by fuel shortages, dollars and high inflation.
Center-right Senator Rodrigo Paz will be the new president of Bolivia, according to preliminary results. The country officially takes a political turn after holding second-round elections this Sunday and closes 20 years of government by the left-wing MAS party.
Rodrigo Paz, of the Christian Democratic party (PDC) and his vice president Edman Lara won this Sunday’s runoff, according to preliminary results, in which for the first time the leftist party Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS) will not be part of the government, after 20 years in power.
Paz will take office on November 8, beginning a five-year mandate, in which his main task will be to provide a solution to the country’s economic crisis, hit by fuel shortages, dollars and high inflation.
More than 7.9 million people were called to the polls, in a day that passed completely normally as indicated by the authorities and the more than 15 electoral observation missions that monitored the process.
However, at the campaign headquarters of his opponent, former president Jorge Quiroga, followers of the Free Alliance denounced that Paz’s victory was electoral fraud. The same Sunday, Quiroga recognized Paz’s victory and assured: “we respected him in the second round, I congratulate Rodrigo Paz, I wish him my congratulations,” he said at a press conference.
*Read also: A Bolivia in crisis will elect a president between two right-wing candidates
«Recover your place on the international scene»
Paz, for his part, promised in his first speech as president-elect that he would work to “transform the country” and added that the country is beginning to “recover its place on the international scene” after 20 years of socialist governments, as he thanked the congratulations he received from presidents of Latin American countries such as Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay.
With 97% of the votes counted, Paz won with 54.6% of the votes against 45.4% for the right-wing Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga.
Former president Jaime Paz Zamora, father of Rodrigo Paz, was present on election night and was seen emotional about his son’s victory. Paz dedicated a few words to remember his childhood, when his family was exiled during a time of military dictatorships in his country.
*Journalism in Venezuela is carried out in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments in place to punish the word, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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