Votes threaten to compound Bolivia political turmoil

Significance

The electoral authorities will nevertheless need to organise judicial elections, set for December. They may also face the task of staging a three-issue referendum before year-end. President Luis Arce’s referendum proposal seems intended primarily to buy time for his embattled government.

Impacts

• The elimination of primaries should help to keep the election timetable on course.
• Arce seems likely to push his claim to be the presidential candidate for the MAS.
• Morales will seek to mobilise his supporters to defy a legal ban on his candidacy.
• The wording of the referendum may itself prove contentious.