MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th November, 2019) Spanish authorities have welcomed the decision of the incumbent president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, to hold new presidential election amid mass protests in the country against the result of October's election and after the publication of the preliminary report of the Organization of American States (OAS) on the verification of the vote count, the country's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
The ministry wrote in a statement that Spain welcomed Morales' announcement of re-holding the general election in the country and urged to work in institutional and peaceful ways to restore confidence in the democratic electoral process.
The presidential election was held on October 20 and saw incumbent President Morales securing his fourth term in office by winning in the first round of the election. However, the opposition has protested the election results, citing the lack of transparency in vote-counting.
The OAS, which was invited by the authorities to hold the audit of the counting process, indicated in the preliminary report that it was "statistically unlikely" that Morales could get enough votes to avoid the second round. In this regard, the OAS Secretary General announced the need to nullify the results of the first round of elections.
