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Bolivia's Morales ignores unconstitutional accusations in reelection bid
[PULSE.NG] Despite opposition criticism of his attempts to circumvent the constitution, Bolivian President Evo Morales retains widespread public support.Morales has been in power since 2006, winning three elections already despite Bolivia's 2009 constitution, which he himself promulgated, limiting presidents to two consecutive terms in office. However, we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... the country's constitutional court, filled with government loyalists and having already ruled in Morales's favor by allowing him to stand for re-election in 2014, has rejected 11 appeals against his seeking a fourth term. Strikes and protest marches led by opposition groups have failed to deter Morales, the country's first ever indigenous president. He tried to change the constitution in 2016 to allow him to seek unlimited terms in office but narrowly lost a referendum on the subject. However, we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... his government rejected the results and the constitutional court backed him, saying that it was his human right to seek reelection. He is due to stand in his own Movement for Socialism (MAS) party's primary in January after the constitutional court rejected the appeals attempting to block him from doing so. Already the longest-serving president in Bolivia's history, Morales would remain in power for 19 years should he win next year's election and serve a fourth term from 2020-2025. Protests have extended to hunger strikes in some of Bolivia's major cities, though. "We're in the fifth day of a hunger strike and many people have joined," said Juan Flores, a civil leader in the Cochabamba region. Posted by: Fred 2018-12-18 |
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