MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th October, 2019) Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and the United States in a joint statement expressed concerns about irregularities that emerged during the counting of votes in Bolivia's recent elections and said they will only recognize the results that reflected the Bolivian nationals' choice.
The presidential and legislative elections were held in Bolivia on Sunday. The electoral authorities said that incumbent President Evo Morales won the election. However, the opposition has doubted the validity of the results and criticized the vote counting process, citing the lack of transparency. The situation provoked public unrest. The Bolivian government invited the Organization of American States (OAS) to verify the election results. The statement, published on the website of the US mission to the organization on Thursday, read that Bolivians had the right to choose leaders in a fair and free election in line with the Inter-American Democratic Charter and their country's constitution.
"We are therefore deeply concerned over the anomalies in the vote counting process of Bolivia's October 20 election ... Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and the United States, along with the community of democracies worldwide, will only recognize results that actually reflect the will of the Bolivian people," the four countries argued.
They called on Bolivia to work together with the OAS monitoring mission and hold the second round of the presidential elections if the mission was unable to certify the credibility of the vote counting process.
"We call on the Government of Bolivia to restore credibility to its electoral system by proceeding to hold a second round of elections with the top-two vote winners that is free, fair, transparent and credible. In the interim, we call for calm and continued respect for the rule of law. The world is watching Bolivia's institutions and leaders to ensure that the voice and will of the Bolivian people are honored," the statement pointed out.
According to the final results of the presidential election, released by the Bolivian Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Morales garnered 47.07 percent of the ballots, securing a 10.56 percent margin over his rival, Carlos Mesa, who gained 36.51 percent. Under the law, this allows Morales to avoid the second round of the vote.
Morales has already announced his victory on Thursday, while Mesa has rejected the vote results.
