November 20, 2022, 4:00 AM
November 20, 2022, 4:00 AM
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) has a series of activities on its calendar from 2023 to 2025, the year of the general elections. Therein lies the importance of having the “official” results of the Census of Population and Housing until September 2024, maximum term, to avoid the clash of electoral tasks such as the organization of the primary elections.
In this line, the MAS from the Chamber of Deputies announced that it will ratify, by law, the terms established in the Supreme Decree (DS) 4824, that is, census for March 23, 2024 with delivery of results in September of that year for the distribution of resources and seats. However, the opposition will insist on carrying out the census for the 2023 administration.
“There is a sequential work of the TSE. If the census data is delivered in December (as the Government had announced) there would be no possibility of carrying out, thinking of the 2025 elections, primary elections as indicated in the Political Parties Law”, explained the member of the Departmental Electoral Tribunal (TED) of Santa Cruz, Saúl Paniagua.
The authority explained that the problem is not in the redistribution of seats and the modification of the law but in the national electoral calendar which has a sequence of tasks that start in December of this year.
The calendar presented by the president of the Plurinational Electoral Body (OEP), Óscar Hassenteufel, contemplates the activities long-term between December 2022 and November 2025.
In December of this year, the national meeting of electoral members will be held to organize the election of High Authorities of the Judicial Branch and the Plurinational Constitutional Court (TCP). The meeting will be in the city of Tarija to discuss the most important milestones of the judicial elections.
This process is organized in parallel to the collection of signatures for the referendum to reform the judicial system by the group of independent jurists. In case of obtaining the million and a half endorsements to the proposalthe TSE will have to organize the plebiscite if not carry out the elections in October 2023.
In May 2023, after two years in the national, departmental and municipal mandates, the possibility of recalls is opened at the request of the citizens.
In 2024, the calendar is marked by the organization of the primary and presidential elections. Before these activities, according to the commitment assumed by the Executive, the official results of the census in September of that year for the OEP to work on the distribution of seats and the delimitation of constituencies.
The distribution of seats establishes a technical work where the methodology will be appliedto established in paragraph II of article 56 of Law 026 of Electoral Regime. For this purpose, the TSE requires official data from the census and the Human Development Index.
Once this task is complete, The Legislative Assembly will be in charge of issuing aand with the new distribution of seats so that the TSE can begin with the delimitation of single-member constituencies.
“It is important that this law can be approved without further dilutions because only once this law is approved will the TSE you will be able to start the second activity,” Hassenteufel said. With this information, it will be possible to call the general elections to be held in September 2025 without inconvenience, with a possible second round for October of that year and delivery of the presidential command for November 8.
Given the fair deadlines for the distribution of seats and the delimitation of constituencies that the Electoral Body must do, the Opposition legislators maintain their stance of securing commitments of the Government through a law that not only establishes the registration date for 2023 but also the delivery and application of the census results.
However, from the ruling party there are two positions that could hinder the debate. The wing that answers to the president Luis Arce announced that he will ratify the terms contemplated in Supreme Decree 4824, that is, the completion of the census for March 23 and the distribution of resources with preliminary data for that same year. They will add the delivery of census results until September 2024 to facilitate the work of the OEP.
“There will not be a clash between the census law and the Constitution because we are not giving a mandate to the Executive Branch, they have defined when and how they are going to do the census. We will only ratify the decision that they have made and also complement with the distribution of seats ”said the president of the Deputy, Jerges Mercado.
Another scenario already announced by the ‘evistas’ is that at least 35 deputies they will not support any bill, because they consider the decree sufficient issued by the government. Although they see the date scheduled for the census as conflicting because it coincides with the Day of Maritime Claims.
“How and why has the census date been set for March 23? That day will be declared a holiday, Sea Day activities will be prohibited. I don’t understand if it was a lack of foresight or if it’s a joke again from the INE. I do not agree with the census taking place on this date. We are issuing a note to the INE”, informed the deputy Héctor Arce.
For their part, Comunidad Ciudadana (CC) and Creemos insist on setting the census for October 2023 as requested by the Santa Cruz council. Regarding the debate in Deputies, no alliance wanted to advance criteria since they do not trust the position of the MAS and will wait until the session scheduled for 5:00 p.m. this Monday.
“We will insist on our role of defending the position of a people that is mobilizingdo and that the strike is abiding by, that is why we are going to continue defending the census for 2023,” said deputy María René Álvarez, from Creemos.
The pParliamentarian Marcelo Pedrazas, from CC, maintained that in Monday’s session the MAS will impose its “ambiguous” project that defines the redistribution of resources with preliminary data with risks of margins of error.
“The MAS wants to raise the decree to the rank of law. He left the possibility that the MAS plays us. As long as this is not carried out debate we will take the circumstantial word of the president of Deputies”, he assured.
The proposals to be discussed call for the 2023 census (opposition) and 2024 census (MAS). The distribution of resources in 2024 with official results at the request of opponents and the ruling party with preliminary results. Both sides agreen in the delivery of official results in September 2024 for the distribution of seats.
Meanwhile, the situation in the Senate is uncertain since after sending a census bill to the corresponding commission, it is not known when the norm will be debated in plenary session. Mercado assured that Andrónico Rodríguez, of the MAS, is “in tune” with what is proposed in Deputies.
