Source: Financial Times [UK]
“Bolivia is heading for an unprecedented presidential run-off election between centrist and conservative candidates in October after preliminary results showed a collapse for the ruling leftwing Movimiento al Socialismo for the first time in 20 years. Centrist candidate Rodrigo Paz … led the preliminary count with 32.1 per cent, with 95 per cent of ballots counted, leading conservative Jorge Quiroga with 26.8 per cent. … MAS was punished by voters for infighting and economic mismanagement, with its candidate Eduardo del Castillo receiving 3.1 per cent of the early votes, just clearing the 3 per cent threshold to retain its legal status as a political party. The election was overshadowed by the influence of charismatic former president Evo Morales, who was forced from MAS and barred from running by a court ruling on term limits. Morales had encouraged voters to spoil their ballots in protest against his exclusion. Spoilt ballots accounted for 19 per cent of the vote.” (08/18/25)