Peace and electoral body of Bolivia see the need to reform laws to improve democracy

La Paz.- The President of Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz, and the head of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), Gustavo Ávila, agreed this Sunday separately that a reform of the current electoral regulations is necessary to strengthen the country's democratic system.

Paz referred to the matter after voting to elect the governor of the southern region of Tarija, where a second round of elections is being held this Sunday, as in the departments of Santa Cruz, Oruro, Chuquisaca and Beni. The president said that once the current electoral process is fully concluded, he will summon the members of the TSE "because we have to make improvements in democracy" and in electoral regulations. «A cycle of this style of democracy is closing. It has been a very intense process», said the president, who recalled that Bolivia had general elections with a second round in 2025 and this year regional and municipal elections were held, which will be completed this day with the runoff to elect governors in five departments.

We recommend reading:Believers in Bolivia commemorate Good Friday with prayers for world peace

Paz considered it necessary to "make changes to the regulations" so that any electoral process is "more solid, that there are no doubts" about it and "there is no conflict with other instances", as happened with the Judiciary in the 2024 judicial elections.

Delayed and Partial Judicial Elections

Those elections were held a year later than planned due to problems in the Legislative branch and numerous judicial cases that repeatedly stalled the process, but in addition, the vote was partial, as only 19 judges out of the 26 planned were elected, and completing that election is still pending. Paz maintained that the electoral body "is the fourth power" recognized as such in the Bolivian Constitution and that we must "empower that fourth power." He also saw the need to "make more practical, faster choices", since "the political anguish that the country has experienced all this time is a burden" that has limited the development of initiatives for the growth of Bolivia. Earlier, at the opening of the voting day in an event in Santa Cruz, Ávila stated that the electoral officials are "critical of the current regulations". «If there's one thing we've learned, it's that our legal framework presents contradictions and gaps that limit the development of the democratic system. An insufficiency that we have been publicly warning about for some time,» he expressed.

TSE will promote participatory regulatory reform

For this reason, the TSE president ratified that from that body "a regulatory reform will be promoted" for which he will convene all sectors and institutions. In the first round, the governors of Potosí, Pando, and Cochabamba were elected on March 22nd, all from opposition parties. In La Paz there should have been a second round, but at the end of March the Nueva Generación Patriótica (NGP) party withdrew, so the candidate of President Paz's coalition was declared the winner.

You can also read:Bolivia begins the commemoration of the 147 years of the loss of its access to the sea

In four of the five regions going to the runoff this day, candidates from the official alliance compete against candidates from other political organizations. Peace has announced that it will seek to work with all regional and municipal elected authorities, regardless of their party.