Morales facing defeat in key Bolivia vote

LA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivian President Evo Morales on Tuesday faced the growing prospect of defeat in a referendum on letting him seek a fourth term in power. Morales is Bolivia’s first indigenous head of state and has been in power for a decade, thanks in large part to support from indigenous groups and grassroots organizations in one of the Americas’ poorest countries. He promised to respect the official results of Sunday’s vote on whether he can run for re-election to extend his time in office to 19 years. His current term ends in 2020. The vote count is proceeding slowly. Partial official results released early Tuesday by the Electoral Board with 71 percent of votes counted indicated about 56 percent for “No,” and 44 percent for “Yes.” Morales insisted on waiting for full results to trickle in from rural areas where he has strong support, and from abroad. “We are going to respect the results, whether it be a ‘No’ or a ‘Yes’. We always have respected them. That is democracy,” he told a news conference. “We are going to wait patiently for the final whistle from the electoral tribunal. We are optimistic.” Morales, 56, wants to run for another five-year term when his current one ends. His goal is to continue a socialist program credited with improving the fortunes of poor indigenous groups. Monday’s numbers were largely in line with exit polls published by private media late Sunday, which indicated Morales lost the vote. Political scientist Jorge Lazarte said the results confirm the idea that “part of the country... has said enough is enough” and this will force Morales to now seek consensus with the opposition. With no official outcome, Morales said those distributing non-definitive information on the vote were essentially liars. “People who use social media to spread lies are making the younger generations lose their values,” the president told reporters. But opposition groups and individuals against letting him seek another term believe the government may be setting the stage for manipulating the final outcome. Groups chanting “Fraud! Fraud! Fraud!” staged a sit-in outside the office in La Paz where the count is being done late Monday. — AFP