In the lead but not elected in the first round. Evo Morales won 45.28% of the vote, Sunday, October 20 around 20:00 (00:00 GMT), during the presidential election in Bolivia, closely followed by his main opponent, the centrist Carlos Mesa, who totaled 38.16 % of the votes, according to partial results.

"We are in the second round!", Rejoiced in front of his fans Carlos Mesa, taking note of the first results in his campaign headquarters south of La Paz.

Shortly after, from the presidential palace in the center of the city, facing hundreds of supporters of the Movement to Socialism (MAS) who chanted "Evo, you're not alone!", The head of state said trust the rural vote to avoid a second round.

"The Bolivian people have imposed themselves to continue the process of change," he said with satisfaction in reference to the name of the government program.

To avoid a second round, the leading candidate must obtain an absolute majority or at least 40% of the votes with 10 percentage points difference over the second.

"Malaysian citizen"

"In the event of a second round, it becomes a referendum" for or against Evo Morales, explains Gaspard Estrada, a specialist in Latin America at Sciences Po Paris.

Nine candidates aspired to lead Bolivia, but only Carlos Mesa, a 66-year-old journalist who was already president between 2003 and 2005, seemed able to stumble over the 59-year-old head of state, so far systematically elected since first round.

In this country of 11.3 million inhabitants, the vote is obligatory.

The opposition called for a "sanction vote", the presidential camp "safe vote". After voting, Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera urged voters to "think of the tranquility of Bolivia", mentioning the violent protests in Chile and Ecuador.

For Bolivian political scientist Maria Teresa Zegada, "power has replaced policies aimed at the entire population by others who serve only the interests of certain sectors, and opposition leaders have been persecuted". "All this provoked a citizen discomfort and gave the impression that democracy was in danger", she analyzes.

In addition, the decision of Evo Morales to seek a fourth term, despite the "no" in the referendum of February 2016, is very badly seen by some Bolivians and criticized by the opposition, which believes that the country could pour in the autocracy in case of new victory.

The 7.3 million Bolivian voters voted Sunday for their president and vice president, as well as for their 130 deputies and 36 senators.

With AFP