More Terms for Bolivia’s Morales?
Via the BBC: Vote may allow Bolivia president to seek re-election
Bolivia’s Congress has voted to amend the constitution to allow the country’s President Evo Morales to run for re-election again in five years’ time.
The vote went through by a two-thirds majority in a congress dominated by his supporters.
He has been in power since 2005, but the amendment discounts his first two terms, as those elections took place under a previous constitution.
The amendment is to go to a national referendum next February.
Without getting into the question of term limits, I must confess: I am not a fan of amending rules as a way of potentially engineering a sitting president a chance to extend time in office. Having said that, there is little doubt that Morales is quite popular:
Mr Morales is one of the most popular presidents in the world, with ratings standing at over 70%.
Morales’ stated goal is to remain in the presidency since 2025–and he has been in office since 2005. Twenty years of the same executive encourages personalism and hampers party development.
I’m indifferent to term limits when it comes to legislators, but pretty strongly in favor when it comes to (independent) executive.
Somewhere, ghosts of old caudillos smile.