Former President Morales Blocked from Bolivia’s Presidential Race

Bolivia’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling that banned a president from serving more than two terms, regardless of whether they are consecutive or not, effectively prohibiting former President Evo Morales from seeking office for a fourth time in August, Reuters reported. 

The nine members of the court voted unanimously after years of speculation surrounding the constitutionality of a third term, saying that banning Morales from running again does not violate his human rights, according to MercoPress. 

Morales reacted to the court decision on social media by saying that “only the people” could convince him not to run again in the next election. He also argued that the Bolivian Constitution only forbids continuous re-election, not the number of terms, and said the court’s decision is a violation of the constitution by “de facto magistrates.” 

The court said that, according to the law, the president and vice president are eligible to be re-elected only once in a continuous manner, and that the term “only once” also excludes the possibility of running for a third term. 

A court allowed Morales to serve a third term because his first was served before changes to the constitution took effect. He ran for a fourth term in 2019 but fled Bolivia after the election results were disputed. 

Current President Luis Arce, once Morales’s ally and mentee, announced earlier this week that he would withdraw from this year’s election, likely to avoid a humiliating defeat after a five-year term marked by turmoil and sinking polls, Al Jazeera noted.