AFP for France 24:
La Paz (AFP)
A judge in Bolivia on Monday ruled that former president Evo Morales is not eligible to run for a senate seat in October’s elections, the government announced.
Justice Minister Alvaro Coimbra wrote on Twitter, “Urgent Evo Morales Disqualified,” after Judge Alfredo Jaimes Terrazas confirmed the former president was barred from running, in line with a decision by the Supreme Electoral Commission in February.
“They denied protection to Evo Morales, democracy won,” said lawyer Williams Bascope, one of the judicial team who weighed the constitutional protections presented by the ex-president’s defense team.
Morales, 60, is a hugely influential figure in Bolivia even though he currently lives in exile in Argentina after 14 years in power. He fled into exile following three weeks of protests against his controversial re-election to an unconstitutional fourth term last October.
Morales had appealed to the constitutional court in La Paz to overturn the electoral commission’s decision and permit him to run as a senate candidate for the central region of Cochabamba, where he emerged as a political leader decades ago.
“Evo Morales cannot be a candidate for senator because he lives in Argentina,” said Bascope.
Neither Morales nor his party, the Movement for Socialism (MAS), issued a statement in the immediate aftermath of the announcement.
Bolivia heads to the polls on October 18, a year after the elections that triggered mass protests over allegations of being rigged.
© 2020 AFP
Opinion, Bolivian Thoughts:
This caudillo, was banned from getting a nomination, back in February, but he always pushes his way in, he does as he pleases and he then demands his lawyers to fix it, to accommodate to the law or change it. That happened over the last 14 years, not anymore!
He wanted to get nominated and win a seat in Congress, to avoid prosecution over the numerous charges upon him: corruption, electoral fraud, pedophilia … just like Cristina Fernandez did in Argentina and what Correa attempted to do in Ecuador.
A este caudillo, se le prohibió la nominación, allá por febrero, pero siempre se abre camino, hace lo que le place y luego exige a sus abogados que lo arreglen, que se acomoden a la ley o la cambien. Eso sucedió durante los últimos 14 años, ¡ya no!
Quería ser nominado y ganar un escaño en el Congreso, para evitar ser procesado por los numerosos cargos que se le imputan: corrupción, fraude electoral, pedofilia … como hizo Cristina Fernández en Argentina y lo que intentó hacer Correa en Ecuador.
Bolivian Thoughts over our wonders 