Centrist senator Rodrigo Paz Pereira won Bolivia’s presidential runoff on October 19, bringing the country’s first conservative electoral victory in 20 years and ending the long dominance of the leftist Movement Toward Socialism, known as MAS.
With just over 97% of ballots included in the electoral court’s preliminary tally, Paz received 54.6% and former president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga 45.4%, The Guardian reported. AP gave Paz’s share as 54.5%. The slight difference reflected preliminary reporting and did not alter the outcome, but the electoral court stressed that the count was not yet definitive.
Bolivia uses a rapid preliminary system based on photographed ballot records and a slower final count in which votes are publicly scrutinised before entering the official system. The court had up to seven days to publish final results. Quiroga called Paz to congratulate him and said he would monitor the count while respecting the electoral authority’s work.
Paz was due to take office on November 8. His victory therefore marked the electoral end of MAS rule, although the transfer of power had not yet occurred on the event date. It was Bolivia’s first presidential runoff and the first presidential election since 2005 without a MAS candidate on the ballot.
Economic crisis shapes result
The election took place during Bolivia’s worst economic crisis in four decades. Natural-gas production had fallen, the central bank was short of US dollars, fuel queues stretched through major cities and year-on-year inflation reached 23% in September, according to AP.
Paz campaigned on “popular capitalism,” promising low-interest credit for small businesses, lower tariffs on products including technology and vehicles, and the cancellation of some debts owed by citizens to the state. He rejected the fiscal shock and International Monetary Fund bailout approach proposed by Quiroga.
The president-elect argued that employment, stronger institutions, legal certainty and private property mattered more than ideology. He also promised action to stabilise supplies of diesel and petrol. Those pledges faced a difficult legislature: his Christian Democratic Party won the largest bloc, with 49 deputies and 16 senators, but fell short of a majority needed to pass laws without allies.
MAS’s collapse followed a feud between former president Evo Morales and President Luis Arce, as well as public anger over shortages and inflation. Arce did not seek another term. The party that once controlled two-thirds of Congress was set to hold only two seats in the lower house and none in the Senate, according to The Guardian.
Turn toward Washington
Paz said he wanted closer ties with the United States after years of strained relations under MAS governments. In remarks after the election, reported the following day by AP, he said his incoming administration was speaking with the Trump administration and other governments about securing fuel imports. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the result as an opportunity for cooperation on investment, immigration and security.
Those Monday comments were later context, not positions newly announced at the moment polls closed. They nevertheless clarified the diplomatic shift signalled during the campaign, when both runoff candidates sought stronger relations with Washington.
Paz, the son of former president Jaime Paz Zamora, had served as a mayor and senator but entered the campaign with limited national support. His running mate, former police captain Edman Lara, built a following on social media after public allegations of corruption within the police. Their campaign drew working-class and rural voters, including people in areas previously considered MAS strongholds.
The result delivered a clear preliminary victory but not an unrestricted mandate. Paz faced a divided Congress, an acute shortage of foreign currency and fuel, and competing expectations within his coalition. His election ended one political era; whether his proposed blend of market reforms, targeted support and closer US relations could resolve the crisis remained untested on October 19.
