Presidential election in Bolivia: a ballot under high tension without Evo Morales

Campaign for the MAS candidate of Evo Morales, in El Alto, near La Paz, October 14, 2020. REUTERS / David Mercado

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2 min

Voting day this Sunday, October 18 in Bolivia to elect a new president and the parliamentarians who will lead the country after more than 10 months of interim government.

The panorama of the country has changed since the violence of last year, the Covid has been there and Bolivians are returning to the polls in a climate of fear and tension.

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With our correspondent in La Paz,

They are 7.3 million Bolivians to go to the polls this Sunday, one year exactly after the polls canceled last year.

The major change in this election is the absence of

, the ex-president, now in exile in Argentina.

This is the first time in 30 years that he has not been a candidate for an election in the country.

But his party, the MAS, is still present, leading the polls with 36% of the voting intentions.

This result would take the left-wing party to the second round against Carlos Mesa, center-right, who would reach 28% of the votes cast, according to election surveys.

But we estimate the "undecided" at 20%, and it is they who could well change everything.

A MAS victory perhaps in the first round.

► To listen and read also: Presidential in Bolivia: the opposition calls to vote against Mas, the party of Evo Morales

In the streets, tension reigns: people fear violence like last year, that activists dissatisfied with the results will take to the streets to sow terror.

Not to mention the fear of the

, the country has just passed the peak of the epidemic.

But today everyone wants to democratically elect a leader, after a year of

unelected

.

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