Jeanine Añez wants to be Bolivia’s president. She is betraying her vow to restore democracy
Just when we thought that Bolivia was transitioning to democracy following authoritarian ruler Evo Morales’ resignation, the country’s caretaker president, Jeanine Añez, has betrayed her mandate by declaring that she will run for office in the May 3 elections. Shame on her!
Añez’s Jan. 25 announcement on Bolivia’s state-run television that she will run for the presidency is the most selfish and shortsighted decision she could have made. It delegitimizes her interim government and will give new ammunition to those who — wrongly — claimed that Morales was the victim of a “coup.”
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
Añez, who was a second vice-president and opposition senator during Morales’ almost 14-year presidency, was sworn in as caretaker president with the mandate to convene free elections within 90 days after Morales and his vice president, Alvaro Garcia Linera, stepped down.
They resigned in November amid massive protests by Bolivians who were rightly infuriated by Morales’ blatant electoral fraud in the Oct. 20 elections.
Two separate electoral observation missions from the Organization of American States (OAS) concluded that Morales stole the October elections. Ironically, Morales had invited the OAS missions to the country.
But even before the October elections, Morales had violated the constitution by running for a fourth term. He was constitutionally allowed to be president for only two consecutive terms, so he already was an unconstitutional president.
Morales and his backers now claim that he was the victim of a coup, because a general said in a statement during the protests that the military was “suggesting” he resign to avert more bloodshed. But Morales resigned on national television, because popular uprising against his power grab had made country ungovernable.
After Añez was sworn in as caretaker president, I wrote that if the military had taken power, it would have been a coup. But if Añez, as the next in line of succession, was sworn in as an interim leader and convened a new election within 90 days, it would be a constitutional move to restore Bolivia’s democratic rule after a rigged vote.
That’s exactly what happened: Añez took office Nov. 13 and moved swiftly to set the stage for free elections, vowing that she would not influence the process or try to stay in power herself.
But she has betrayed her promises, casting doubt about Bolivia’s transition to democracy. Even as a caretaker, she will be able to use massive state resources to help her candidacy. And if she wins, it will stain what should be the first Bolivian democratic government after more than a decade of Morales’ autocratic rule.
Añez’s decision to run hurts the interim government’s democratic credentials at home and abroad.
“This delegitimizes the transition government,” says Eduardo Gamarra, a Bolivia expert who teaches political science at Florida International University. “The perception won’t be that it’s a transitional government, but that it’s a government that is trying to stay in power.”
In addition, Añez’s decision will divide further an already-fragmented opposition and make it easier for Morales’ leftist MAS party to win a runoff election.
MAS, which according to a poll released Jan. 26 by the daily Página Siete, has 26 percent of the vote and is likely to win the firstround vote against five major center and right-ofcenter parties.
If Añez makes it to the second-round vote, she might not be supported by some of the candidates she has betrayed. Morales’
MAS might win and perhaps pave the way for his return to power.
My sincere suggestion to Añez: Withdraw your candidacy for president.
If you fulfill your previous promise to organize free election and go home, you will go down in history as the stateswoman who restored Bolivia’s democracy. You can be appointed ambassador or take a teaching job abroad, then return in a few years to run for office as a true national hero.
Or, if you believe that you must run now, resign as caretaker president and campaign from outside the government, like all other candidates. Otherwise, you will be seen as another power-hungry politician who cares more about herself than about democratic reforms — just like Evo Morales.
Don’t miss the “Oppenheimer Presenta” TV show at 8 p.m. E.T. Sunday on CNN en Español.
Twitter: @oppenheimera