IPU PARLINE database: BOLIVIA (Cámara de Senadores), Elections in 2005

Parliament name (generic / translated)

Congreso nacional / National Congress

Structure of parliament

Bicameral

Chamber name (generic / translated)

Cámara de Senadores / Chamber of Senators

Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments)

Cámara de Diputados / Chamber of Deputies

Dates of election / renewal (from/to)

18 December 2005

Purpose of elections

Elections were held for all the seats in both chambers of the Parliament. In July 2005, interim President Eduardo Rodriguez called early elections for December 2005. Elections had previously taken place in June 2002.

On 18 December 2005, parliamentary elections were held in parallel with presidential elections.
In June 2005, President Carlos Mesa, who assumed the presidency in October 2003 when former President Mr. Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada fled the country after violent demonstrations, resigned amid mass protests calling for the nationalization of the energy sector. Following the refusal by the president of the Senate, Mr. Hormando Vaca Diez, to assume the presidential post, the head of the Supreme Court, Mr. Eduardo Rodríguez, became interim President. In July 2005, he called early elections for December 2005 (see Note).

In the last elections in June 2002, the conservative Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR) won 36 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 11 in the Senate. The MNR formed a coalition government with the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), controlling 71 of the 130 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 17 of the 27 seats in the Senate with the support of other small parties. The coalition was supported by the right-wing Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN) and the Unity for Civic Solidarity Party (UCS). The Movement for Socialism (MAS) was the largest opposition party, with 27 seats in the Chamber and eight in the Senate; followed by the New Republican Force (NFR), the Pachakuti Indigenous Movement (MIP) and the Socialist Party (PS).

In the 2005 elections, much attention was focused on whether the MAS indigenous leader, Mr. Evo Morales, would win the presidential election against former president, Jorge Quiroga, of the Social and Democratic Power (PODEMOS) party. Mr. Jorge Quiroga, the then vice president, took office when the President, Mr. Hugo Banzer, passed away in 2001.

During the election campaign, Mr. Morales pledged to nationalize the country's hydrocarbon reserves and legalize the cultivation of coca. He promised to empower Bolivia's long-suffering indigenous population, who make up more than half of the country's 8.8 million inhabitants, and end centuries of foreign exploitation. On the contrary, Mr. Quiroga called for a "zero coca" policy, and promised to create more jobs by boosting the productive sector and broadening the scope of free-trade agreements.

The voting went off peacefully although some irregularities were reported. Tens of thousands of persons complained that their names did not appear on the electoral list. In the end, 84.51 per cent of Bolivia's 3.6 million registered voters cast their ballot. The MAS won 72 of 130 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 12 in the Senate, while PODEMOS won 43 in the Chamber, and 13 in the Senate.

Mr. Evo Morales won the presidential election with 53.7 per cent of votes, becoming the country's first indigenous president.

The National Congress held its first session on 18 January 2006. Mr. Edmundo Novillo Aguilar was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies, and Mr. Santos Ramírez Valverde was elected President of the Senate.

Note:
Elections were originally scheduled for 4 December but were postponed to 18 December 2005 due to a dispute in Congress over the redistribution of constituencies. The disagreement stemmed from a Constitutional Court ruling in September 2005 ordering the Congress to reapportion the seats to be filled in the 2005 elections based on the country's 2001 census. The provinces which were set to gain seats, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba, demanded that the reapportionment be conducted as the court had ruled, while the provinces set to lose seats insisted that the court order should be implemented after the 2011 elections. Both leading presidential candidates, Mr. Morales and Mr. Quiroga, criticized the court ruling. Mr. Quiroga called on the interim President, Mr. Rodríguez, to reapportion the seats by decree if Congress was unable to reach a decision. On 1 November 2005, Mr. Rodríguez issued an executive decree dividing up the seats in Congress by region with a compromise formula and set December 18 as the election date.

Voter turnout

Round no 1

18 December 2005

Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes

3'671'152
3'102'417 (84.51%)
228'616
2'873'801

Notes

Distribution of votes

Round no 1
Political Group	Candidates	Votes	%
Social and Democratic Power (PODEMOS)
Movement for Socialism (MAS)
National Unity Front (UN)
National Revolutionary Movement (MNR)

Distribution of seats

Round no 1
Political Group	Total
Social and Democratic Power (PODEMOS)	13
Movement for Socialism (MAS)	12
National Unity Front (UN)	1
National Revolutionary Movement (MNR)	1

Distribution of seats according to sex

Men
Women
Percent of women

26
1
3.70%

Distribution of seats according to age

Distribution of seats according to profession

Comments

Source: http://www.cne.org.bo/sirenacomp/index.aspx

Cámara de Senadores (16.01.2006)

Distribution of seats according to age:
25-29 years old: 0
30-39 years old: 3
40-49 years old: 15
50-59 years old: 7
60-69 years old: 0
70-79 years old: 2
80-89 years old: 0
Source: www.la-razon.com

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