Description: Sunday’s presidential elections in Bolivia have delivered unexpected surge in popularity for the centrist candidate Rodrigo Paz from the Christian Democratic Party (PDC). Paz also managed to secure the endorsement of the businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who finished third in the primary election process. Paz would face conservative Jorge Quiroga who represents the Alianza Libre coalition, and in his pre – election campaign promised to restore ties with the US, devise closer economic ties with Israel and revive the Bolivian economy through assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Opposed to Quiroga, Paz’ pre-election campaign primarily focused on domestic issues, such as tackling corruption, and incentivizing economic growth by dividing the control of the public funds between the central and the local government as well as introducing the incorporation of cryptocurrency in the domestic economic system. Bolivia is set to transform its internal political system into right leaning, transferring its congressional and presidential leadership from social and leftist towards centrist, right and conservative. Rodrigo Paz secured 32.18% of the votes as opposed to Jorge Quiroga’s 26.94%. The candidates are awaiting the final vote count which could lead towards the presidential runoff election in Oct.
Impact: Bolivia’s drastic transformation of its political system could potentially be beneficial to the country’s economy and development of its future strategic alignment. The presidential candidates have adopted varied approaches towards tackling the growing economic crisis and have also introduced differentiated principles in formulating the country’s foreign policy. Paz might be appealing to the public due to its campaign focus on combating existential domestic issues such as the high levels of corruption and the exploitation of the country’s natural resources for stimulating economic growth. Quiroga on the other hand is concentrating on Bolivia’s decoupling from alliances with countries such as Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, naturally aligned against the Global West and primarily the US and establishing closer ties with Israel and the US. Awaiting the final vote count, the presidential election would most likely be decided through a runoff in Oct which would significantly transform the country’s strategic role on the South American continent impacting regional power dynamics and countering China’s growing influence on the continent.