After threatening a possible uprising in Bolivia, Evo Morales challenged Luis Arce to face primary elections.

Evo Morales He challenged the President on Sunday Lewis ArsBoth the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) are due to undergo closed primaries to determine the party's candidate for the 2025 presidential election amid rising tensions in the ruling party.

“Legally registered fighters before the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) and the people who decide who will be their candidate: Evo, Ars or let's submit another candidacy,” the former president of Bolivia (2006-2019) said in his Sunday program. Kausasun Koka at Koka station.

Morales asked the MAS to “avoid any trouble” and “seek unity” of the organization without conflicts within the party between “Evistas” or “Archistas”, followers of the former ruler and the current ruler. condition.

“If Lucho (Ars) wins I have to campaign for Lucho. If I win, Lucho will campaign for me. It speaks of unity and I am ready because here we are naturally and that is why I challenge that we must submit to internal practices,” he noted.

This week MAS celebrated 29 years of its creation The ruling party is in the middle of an intra-party split that has dragged on for two years.

Last Thursday Arce led a rally in La Paz to commemorate the creation of MAS, without Morales; The latter did the same this Saturday in Yapakani town, Santa Cruz department, amid criticism from the government.

A few days ago, in an interview with the agency EFE, Morales warned that there would be “a seizure” in Bolivia He insisted that if he is disqualified for the 2025 election, he is constitutionally entitled to do so.

For his part, Arce had this to say at an event held in the municipality of Valle Grande the previous day “People will not allow any personal interest to prevail over the welfare of the country.” Bolivia “will not tolerate threats from new coup plotters.”

At the end of last year, the Constitutional Court issued a ruling that indicated that indefinite re-election is not a human right in Bolivia and that it can be exercised “only once” continuously or intermittently, thus affecting Morales, who ruled the country. Three times from 2006 to 2019.

However, Morales considers that he was recognized because the resolution did not address his situation, but rather because the Constitutional Court considered it within the framework of another case.

Another aspect that confronts MAS Conduct of new party conference For new board election.

The electoral commission this week ordered the MAS to call a congress to elect a new leadership by the end of 25 days, a “consensus”, which is essential for the party's participation in the next elections.

The “Evista” bloc defends last year's congress, where Morales was re-elected as party leader and declared the “sole candidate” in 2025, while the “orcist” social sectors called for an assembly for May's policies.

Tensions between Morales and Arce began at the end of 2021, and recently followers of both leaders have declared them as candidates for the 2025 presidential election.

(with information from EFE)