After threatening potential unrest in Bolivia, Evo Morales challenged Luis Arce to face him in the primaries

Evo Morales He challenged the president this Sunday Luis ArceBoth of them, from the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party, will undergo closed primaries so that the party's candidate for the 2025 presidential elections can be determined, amid escalating tensions in the ruling bloc.

The former president of Bolivia (2006-2019) said in his program on Sunday: “Let us submit to the militants legally registered before the Supreme Electoral Court and the people who decide who their candidate is: Evo, Arce or any other candidate.” At Kawsachun Coca station.

Morales asked to “avoid any problem” in the movement toward socialism and “seek unity” of the organization without conflicts within that party between “evistas” or “arcistas,” as the followers of the former and current governor are known. state.

“If Lucho (Arce) wins I have to campaign for Lucho. If I win, Lucho will campaign for me. He added: “This talk is about unity, and I am ready because we are organic here, and that is why I challenge (Arce) that we submit to internal procedures.”

This week, MAS celebrated its 29th anniversary Amidst the internal division that the ruling party has been experiencing for two years.

Last Thursday, Arce led a crowd in La Paz to commemorate the creation of the Movement Toward Socialism, without Morales present; While the latter did the same thing on Saturday in the town of Yabakani in Santa Cruz province, amid criticism of the government.

A few days ago, in an interview with the agency Evie, Morales warned that there would be a “convulsion” in Bolivia If he is excluded from the 2025 election, although he insists that possibility is constitutionally open.

For his part, Arce said this at an event held in the municipality of Vallegrande the previous day “The people will not allow any individual interest to be placed above the well-being of the country.” Bolivia “will not tolerate the threats of new coup plotters who want to seize power by hook or by fraud.”

At the end of last year, the Constitutional Court issued a decision indicating that indefinite re-election in Bolivia is not a human right and that it is applied “only once,” continuously or intermittently, and therefore affects Morales, who was ruling the country. Three times between 2006 and 2019.

But Morales considers himself entitled because the decision does not refer to his status, but rather the Constitutional Court considered it in the context of another case.

The other aspect facing MAS is A new party conference was held To elect a new board of directors.

This week, the Electoral College ordered the Socialist Movement to call, at the end of 25 days, and “by consensus,” a conference to elect a new leadership, which is a condition for the party’s participation in the upcoming elections.

The “Evista” bloc defends the congress held last year, where Morales was re-elected as party leader and declared the “sole candidate” in 2025, while the “Argentina” social sectors called for the Assembly of the May Principles.

Tensions between Morales and Arce began at the end of 2021, while followers of both leaders recently announced their candidacy for the 2025 presidential elections.

(With information from EFE)