Bolivia heads to a runoff
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14hon MSN
Bolivia will choose a new president but environmental activists see little hope of progress
Bolivia heads into an Oct. 19 runoff between centrist Rodrigo Paz Pereira and right-wing ex-president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga after nearly 20 years of socialist rule.
Rodrigo Paz is hardly an outsider. His experience in politics runs two decades deep, having served as mayor, councillor, deputy and senator. His popularity has only grown since adding Edman Lara – nicknamed "Captain Lara" – to the ticket as vice-president.
Now, on October 19, Bolivians will hold presidential runoff for the first time—an option only introduced in the 2009 Constitution. As voters prepare to pick their next president, AS/COA online looks at dark horse candidate Paz, the collapse of MAS, and the composition of the next national legislature.
2don MSN
What to know about Bolivia's election that elevated a centrist shaking up the political landscape
One candidate is Rodrigo Paz, a conservative centrist senator and son of a neoliberal ex-president who is pitching himself as a moderate reformer
Early exit polls in Bolivia's presidential election on Sunday showed Centrist Senator Rodrigo Paz of the Christian Democratic Party leading, with the ruling Movement for Socialism party on track to suffer its worst electoral defeat in a generation.
The forthcoming presidential election in Bolivia promises change after years of socialist rule, but Indigenous and environmental leaders remain skeptical about its potential impact on deforestation and pollution.
STORY: Early official results in Bolivia show the country's ruling leftists on track for their worst defeat in a generation.Instead the electoral tribunal says centrist senator Rodrigo Paz of the Christian Democratic Party is leading the election late Sunday.
Early official results in Bolivia showed the centrist Rodrigo Paz of the Christian Democratic Party leading Sunday's presidential race, with a surprise 32.04% of the vote according to the country's electoral tribunal.
A well-known figure in Bolivian politics, Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga, 65, is a conservative candidate representing the Alianza Libre coalition. He briefly served as president from 2001 to 2002 and has worked as an IMF consultant and a mining executive.
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