Incumbent Bolivian President Evo Morales re-elected for third term

Mr. Morales will extend his term in office to 14 years, as of January 2020.

Officials from Bolivia's electoral commission officially confirmed on October 18 that incumbent President Evo Morales had been re-elected for a third term with 61% of the vote.

The results of the vote on October 12 showed widespread and strong support for the reforms of this left-wing president - a representative of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party.

Bolivian President Evo Morales speaks at a press conference on October 13 (AP Photo)

In power since 2006 and Bolivia’s first indigenous president, Morales led his main rival in the race, businessman Samuel Doria Medina, candidate of the center-right Democratic Unity (UD) coalition, by 37 points. This extended Morales’ tenure to 14 years, as of January 2020, after Bolivia’s Supreme Court ruled last year that his first term under the new constitution adopted in 2009 would not count.

After rising to prominence as a union leader fighting for the rights of Bolivia’s coca growers, Morales has implemented sweeping reforms since taking office. Despite being in office for nearly nine years, his approval rating remains high due to Bolivia’s dynamic and stable economy, which has reduced its foreign debt while increasing its foreign reserves.

He nationalized a range of industries - including oil, gas, mining, telecommunications - and increased investment in manufacturing, especially natural gas, amid rising export prices for this resource. The government used the abundant revenue from gas exports to finance major infrastructure projects such as launching telecommunications satellites, upgrading roads and airports, and investing in social programs that helped reduce poverty and unemployment in a country where 65% of the population is indigenous - the largest proportion in Latin America.

Bolivia's economy, one of Latin America's poorest, grew 6.8% in 2013, and is forecast to grow more than 5% this year - one of the fastest in the region.

President Morales, 54, was first elected in 2005 with 53.7% of the vote. This was the highest number of votes a Bolivian president had received in 25 years up to that point. In the 2009 election, he was re-elected with more than 64.2% of the vote./.

According to VOV