10/18/2020 4:38 PM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 10/18/2020 5:05 PM
The elections to elect the new president of Bolivia are taking place
calmly this Sunday with high voter turnout,
including the three main candidates, who after casting their vote showed their satisfaction that the day had not had significant incidents.
Former Bolivian President Evo Morales celebrated the "peaceful spirit" with which the presidential elections are taking place and asked to wait with "tranquility" for the counting of each of the votes.
"I salute the democratic and peaceful spirit with which the vote is taking place," Morales said in a brief appearance before the press, in which he limited himself to reading a statement.
The former president, campaign manager for his party, the Movement for Socialism (MAS), pointed out that from Argentina, where he has resided since last December, he accompanies his
"people for their commitment to the homeland"
, to democracy and to the future of Bolivia.
The voting in Buenos Aires.
Photo Marcos Foglia
"Faced with so much rumor about what I will do, I want to tell you that the priority is exclusively the recovery of democracy," Morales said in his contact with the press, at the computer center set up by the MAS in Buenos Aires.
The ex-governor, who did not answer questions from the press, asked MAS voters not to fall
"into any kind of provocation."
In general, aspiring president and vice president and some partisan spokespersons complained that in the hours before the election, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) announced that given the climate of political polarization it will not use the Preliminary Results Dissemination system (Direpre) and It will only be referred to the official count, but the current opposition Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), which proposes Luis Arce for president,
said that its own immediate counting system will continue to be active.
"We are seeing
a good
and
peaceful electoral process
that has been developed with the normal incidents of an electoral process, learning what it means to organize elections in a pandemic," the chief observer of the Organization of American States (OAS) told reporters. ), Francisco Guerrero, quoted by the Sputnik news agency.
Luis Arce, from Mas de Evo Morales, voting in La Paz.
AFP photo
Also, the Minister of Government, Arturo Murillo, reported that until noon it was "a totally quiet election day", after casting his vote in Cochabamba (downtown).
The official made mention of
some irregularities
registered, such as the arrest of people for stealing electoral bags or falsifying vehicle circulation permits.
The president of the TSE, Salvador Romero, also made a positive balance in the middle of the day, especially due to the discipline of the citizens who waited patiently before the voting tables, complying with health and social distancing regulations.
"Beyond these ranks, which it was foreseeable that they could be formed by the needs to respond to the challenges of the coronavirus,
this half-day has passed in peace
, in tranquility, in calm and this is something that we must highlight", declared the electoral chief at a press conference.
Carlos Mesa at the time of voting.
Photo Bloomberg
The main cities of Bolivia woke up on Sunday under strict police and military control ordered to guarantee the normal development of the process, according to the de facto president, Jeanine Áñez.
The president stated in the middle of the morning that the massive mobilization of the police and military on election day was
only intended to guarantee peace
and security, with full political independence.
"We are going to have transparent, free and pressure-free elections. The Armed Forces and the Police are going to be in the streets in favor of the Bolivian people, unlike other times; they are not in favor of any candidate," said the de facto ruler to the press after attending the official opening of the vote.
After noon the three main candidates had already voted.
Bolivian women voting in La Paz.
Reuters photo
Arce, a
favorite in the polls
, was the first to do so at 9:20 am in the midst of an uncontrolled crowd of followers and journalists at a school in La Paz and then expressed: "Let's hope that today and the following days pass peacefully. PLUS we are committed to a democratic solution, we do not take power by arms, we do it through a democratic way. "
The candidate and former president
Carlos Mesa
(2003-2005) asked for patience while waiting for the results of the elections and said he regretted that the TSE had decided not to publish preliminary data but only a delayed official calculation.
Finally, it was the turn of the Creemos contender, the former civic leader, Luis Fernando Camacho, who voted in Santa Cruz de la Sierra (center) and asked to "guard" the electoral process that summons more than seven million Bolivians.
The first global voting data is expected to be released by television networks starting at 8 pm, based on exit polls and quick counts.
Look also
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Source: AP, EFE and AFP
PB
Look also
Who is Luis Arce, the ally of Evo Morales who seeks to win the elections in Bolivia
Who is Carlos Mesa, the intellectual who embodies the rejection of Evo Morales in Bolivia