Bolivia’s president Evo Morales stepped down on Sunday over protests against his increasingly autocratic rule. The military of Bolivia had issued an ultimatum for Mr Morales to withdraw from office. He has since accepted a Mexican asylum offer and left Bolivia for that country. Mr Morales had been running in a re-election bid to become president for a fourth term – a possibility ruled out by the constitution. An attempt to make a fourth term possible through a referendum was defeated in February 2016. The constitutional court then ruled that it was Mr Morales’ human right to run for a fourth term. The October 20th elections in which Mr Morales claimed victory were shrouded in allegations of election rigging. Since the elections, Bolivia was shaken by mass protests against the election results and, more generally, an increasingly autocratic style of politics.
Mr Morales was the first president who came from Bolivia’s indigenous population. A socialist and an activist, he introduced leftist policies, including massive increases in taxation on the profits of the hydrocarbon industry, Bolivia’s main economic pillar. Since Mr Morales’ departure from office, Senator Jeanine Añez declared herself acting president of Bolivia. She is the next in line of succession after the three people ahead of her in the line of succession quit in the wake of massive protests following Morales’ resignation. Her task, backed by the constitutional court immediately after her declaration, is to lead the country to new presidential elections within 90 days.
Whether her move is constitutional or not is an open question. The rule of succession that does not require lawmakers – which has been invoked by Ms. Amex – to assent to an interim president predate the current Bolivian constitution. Lawmakers of Mr Morales’ party have boycotted meetings of Bolivia’s legislative assembly after Mr Morales ouster, thereby preventing the chamber to reach the required quorum.
Political observers around the world are divided over the assessment of Mr Morales’ departure from power. Russia, Venezuela and Cuba have condemned Mr Morales’ ouster as a “coup”, while the European Union called for restraint on all sides, expressing the hope that the country will be led “peacefully and quietly to new elections, credible elections that can let the people of Bolivia express their democratic will”. Mr. Morales has strong support from US politicians such as Senator Bernie Sanders. On the other hand, in a statement issued on Monday, the White House called Mr Morales’ departure “a significant moment for democracy in the Western Hemisphere”.