MADRID, 17 (EUROPA PRESS)
Polling stations in Bolivia have begun counting the votes for the 2025 presidential elections after a day marked by some noteworthy incidents, such as an attempted attack on candidate Andrónico Rodríguez, which ended without injuries but was within the normal democratic framework, according to observers from the European Union and the Organization of American States (OAS).
The president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), Óscar Hassenteufel, also praised the day as "positive," characterized by the opening of 100 percent of the 34,026 polling stations across the country's nine departments. Hassenteufel also characterized the day's incidents as "isolated."
Eight candidates, all men, are seeking to succeed Arce, who has endorsed former minister Eduardo del Castillo as the official candidate of the ruling Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), also at odds with the "Evista" faction, while Evo Morales argues that the elections have no legitimacy.
Rodríguez, considered a "traitor" by Morales supporters—who have called for a null vote—managed to vote at the José Carrasco school in the municipality of Entre Ríos, a "Evista" stronghold, when the stoning began.
In subsequent statements to national media, he asserted that the attack against him was premeditated, although he tried to downplay the violence that occurred.
However, the head of the European Union (EU) mission in Bolivia, Davor Steir, emphasized that election day in the country is proceeding normally and in a calm atmosphere. "What we have seen is that the right to secrecy of the vote has been respected; we have not recorded any incidents of campaigning in or around the polling stations."
Bolivian President Luis Arce has made a passionate defense of democracy in the country after casting his vote in Sunday's crucial elections that will determine his successor amid the rise of the right.
"This is a day when Bolivians must once again demonstrate unity, and we must once again demonstrate to the entire world that we are a people who have committed to democracy and will resolve our differences through democracy," the current president proclaimed.
Arce initially considered running again but ultimately resigned in May, in a last-ditch attempt to unite forces against a rising right.
One of its representatives, businessman Samuel Doria Medina, also cast his vote with a message of encouragement to citizens to resolve the country's economic crisis "peacefully." "Today is a very important day for Bolivians, because through voting we can emerge from this economic crisis peacefully, democratically, and change what our country needs," Medina stated.
Doria Medina, one of Bolivia's richest businessmen and a regular on the ballot, has a slight advantage over another leading technocratic candidate, Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga, who already knows what it means to be president, even if it's only for a year after the ouster of General Hugo Banzer. Both have around 20 percent of the vote.
With these forecasts, it seems clear in any case that there will be a second round on October 19, an unprecedented milestone since the 2009 Constitution introduced this final round if no candidate obtained more than 50 percent of the vote or 40 percent with a ten-point difference over their closest rival.
