Ungovernability Risk Looms Over New Authorities | Nuevas autoridades bajo amenaza de ingobernabilidad

By El Diario:

New governors and mayors under threat of ungovernability

  • The capital cities of the central axis have secured their mayoralties for Manuel Saavedra with 71.2% in Santa Cruz de la Sierra; Manfred Reyes Villa with 47.1% in Cercado de Cochabamba; César Dockweiler with 23.2% in La Paz; meanwhile, JP Velasco and Otto Ritter will go to a runoff for the governorship of Santa Cruz.
Otto Ritter, from Santa Cruz Para Todos.

The cities of the country’s central axis have defined their mayors and governors, although the new authorities elected during yesterday’s voting day are threatened by the shadow of ungovernability due to a fragmented vote, lack of leadership, and the absence of standout proposals from the candidates.

According to the preliminary report of the vote count by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), Manuel Saavedra reached 71.2% in Santa Cruz de la Sierra; Manfred Reyes Villa 47.1% in Cercado de Cochabamba; César Dockweiler 23.2% in La Paz; meanwhile, Juan Pablo Velasco and Otto Ritter will go to a runoff for the Santa Cruz governorship, unlike in other departments.

Manuel “Mamen” Saavedra set an electoral record in the capital of Santa Cruz; meanwhile, the Cochabamba mayor was reelected for the fifth time, and the former manager of the Teleférico secured the MAS hard vote, although in his first statement he denied being a spokesperson for that 20-year political process.

Dockweiler wins the La Paz mayoralty: “They did not elect MAS, they elected Human Innovation; they did not elect socialism, they elected humanism,” he said.

RUNOFF

The first data from the Preliminary Results Consolidation System (Sirepre) of the Electoral Body outlines a runoff scenario to define the next governor of Santa Cruz: the trend shows a close contest between candidates Juan Pablo Velasco (Libre) and Otto Ritter (Santa Cruz Para Todos – SPT).

According to the Sirepre count at 94.92% of tally sheets processed, Velasco reaches 28.33% of the vote and Ritter records 26.71%, leaving Luis Fernando Camacho (Creemos – Patria) in third place with 21.94%.

Among other candidates for governorships in the central axis, Luis Revilla of the Alianza Patria Sol registers 236,111 votes, equivalent to 21.08% in La Paz; and Leonardo Loza, candidate of the Alianza Unidos por los Pueblos (A-UPP) for the Cochabamba governorship, obtained 39.48% of the vote.

Faced with an unprecedented high number of candidacies for mayoralties and governorships across the country, analyst and researcher Manuel Morales Álvarez warned that this characteristic could provoke a dangerous fragmentation of the vote, which could later translate into the unviability of future Municipal Councils and Departmental Legislative Assemblies.

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