Bolivia.- Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, remains a favorite for the October 20 elections, according to a survey that places him below 40 percent, which would in any case force him to move on to a planned second round for December 15.
A survey of the firm VíaCiencia published by four chains places the intention to vote for Morales at 39.1 percent. Its most direct rival, former president Carlos Mesa, of the Citizen Community (CC), is second with 22 percent, with a large advantage over Senator Oscar Ortiz (9.5 percent), according to ABI.
Bolivian laws stipulate that, to be appointed in the first round, a candidate needs to obtain more than 50 percent of the votes or a minimum of 40 percent and exceed the second most voted candidate by more than ten points, something Morales would not have Guaranteed in this new survey.
The president, who has asked the Bolivians not to rely on the polls, is presented to his fourth term ballasted by the failed referendum of February 2016, in which he tried to reform the Constitution to introduce the possibility of an indefinite re-election. The Justice, however, authorized not without controversy a new candidacy.
Morales, in power since 2006, came to confess that he was worried about the expectation of having to leave office because there was no powerful heir in sight. Europa Press
