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Bolivia approves new elections without Evo Morales

By ANI | Published: November 24, 2019 9:27 PM

The Bolivian Congress has unmously approved a bill that annulled the result of the country's presidential vote last month and allowed for new elections to be held without ousted President Evo Morales, who is currently under political asylum granted by Mexico.

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The Bolivian Congress has unmously approved a bill that annulled the result of the country's presidential vote last month and allowed for new elections to be held without ousted President Evo Morales, who is currently under political asylum granted by Mexico.

The legislation also forbids candidates from running if they have served in the last two terms, with politicians also agreeing to appoint a new electoral board, reported Al Jazeera.

Interim President Jene Anez, an opponent of Morales, is expected to sign the bill into law at 14:00 GMT on Sunday.

"I want to thank our parliamentarians for having understood and listened to the demands of the Bolivian people," Anez wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

"Tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. I will promulgate the "Law of exceptional and transitory Regime for the holding of General Elections" approved by the Legislative Assembly," she added further in the thread.

It is the latest development in Bolivia's weeks-long political crisis in the wake of the October 20 vote that has left more than 30 people dead amid opposition allegations of electoral fraud.

Amid the unrest, Morales stepped down on November 10 after an audit of the Orgzation of American States (OAS) cited irregularities in the count and the military called on him to quit to help restore calm.

Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president who had been in power for 13 years, fled to Mexico claiming he was the victim of a coup.

But politicians in his Movement to Socialism (MAS) party said they will find a new candidate to run for president in the next elections.

"We have already signed agreements on all the demands they [MAS] are making, and we agreed to those demands," Jerjes Justiniano, one of Anez's recently appointed ministers, told Al Jazeera.

( With inputs from ANI )

Tags: Evo MoralesBoliviaAl Jazeeramexico
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