The World Today
He will challenge former President Jorge Tuto Quiroga in the second round.
Businessman Samuel Doria acknowledges his defeat and will support the former congressman.
MADRID, 18 (EUROPA PRESS)
Opposition candidate Rodrigo Paz Pereira surprised everyone by leading the first round of the presidential elections held this Sunday in Bolivia with more than 30 percent of the vote, according to preliminary data, with almost 92 percent of the vote counted.
According to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) candidate has obtained nearly 32 percent of the vote and will compete in the final round of the election against former President Jorge Tuto Quiroga, a candidate for the Free Alliance party, who follows him with 27 percent of the vote.
In third place with just over 20 percent of the vote was Samuel Doria, who ran in these elections with the Alianza Unidad party and has already announced that he will support Paz Pereira in the runoff, scheduled for October 19.
"Throughout the campaign, I said that if I didn't make it to the second round, I would support whoever came in first, if it wasn't from the MAS (Movement Towards Socialism). That candidate is Rodrigo Paz, and I stand by my word," he stated during an appearance in which he admitted his defeat and pledged to support "any initiative that helps the country emerge from the crisis."
The table is completed by Andrónico Rodríguez, of the Popular Alliance, and Manfred Reyes Villa, of APB – Súmate, with 8 and almost 7 percent, respectively, while the MAS's dramatic fall is confirmed, with just 3 percent of the support received by the former minister and candidate endorsed by President Luis Arce, Eduardo del Castillo.
Meanwhile, Johnny Fernández, for La Fuerza del Pueblo, and Pavel Aracena, for the Libertad y Progreso-ADN party, each garnered 1.6 percent of the vote.
More than 7.9 million citizens were called to vote this Sunday in an election that marks a political turning point in a country dominated for nearly two decades by the MAS (Mass Movement), launched by former President Evo Morales, and which has been torn apart by fratricidal strife.
