- Title: Bolivia's Morales chides OAS, defends disputed vote win
- Date: 24th October 2019
- Summary: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (OCTOBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** GENERAL VIEW OF PRESIDENTIAL PALACE BOLIVIAN FLAG AND INDIGENOUS FLAG FLYING SIDE BY SIDE GENERAL VIEW OF PRESIDENT EVO MORALES ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE BOLIVIAN FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT EVO MORALES READING FROM PAPER SAYING: "98.5% of the official tally from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. Comunidad Ciudadana Party with 36.7% and the MAS Party with 46.83%. We won the first round." GENERAL VIEW OF MORALES DURING NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT EVO MORALES SAYING: "We will defend democracy. We will defend the results. There are still 120,000 votes (pending). If we go down and not win with 10% (margin) we will respect (the results). If the final result is that we go to a second round we will go and if the final results show no second round, we will respect that and defend it." GENERAL VIEW OF MORALES DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT EVO MORALES SAYING: "I don't want to think the OAS mission is already taking part in a coup d'etat. I don't know if they understood me yesterday. There's a coup d'etat (orchestrated) internally and externally. The OAS as a whole should evaluate themselves and the mission it sent as well. How I understand it as a leader is that we cannot give our opinion until all of our meetings and debates are done. This still has not finished, there is still 1.5% to count, they tell me that it is around 120,000 votes so we can still go down or we can also go up." JOURNALISTS GENERAL VIEW OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT EVO MORALES SAYING: "The corrupted treat me as if I was corrupt. They should present evidence that Evo is corrupt. That is what I ask all of you at this time. Ask if Evo is a thief. For that reason I thank this campaign, these elections. Carlos Mesa wasn't only a coward but also a delinquent." MORALES LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE VARIOUS OF NEWSPAPER KIOSK ON CORNER
- Embargoed: 7th November 2019 15:28
- Keywords: Bolivia election fraud President Evo Morales crisis protests
- Location: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
- City: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
- Country: Bolivia
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001B2GK66F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Bolivian President Evo Morales rebuked a regional election observer mission on Thursday (October 24) for questioning the legitimacy of what he again insisted was an outright win for him in the first round of a disputed election.
The leftist leader has edged to a decisive 10-point lead over his main rival in the count following Sunday's election, which has brought protests and marches in main cities.
At a defiant news conference, Morales said Organization of American States (OAS) observers had slandered him by raising what it called "serious doubts" about the election.
The local OAS team recommended that Bolivia convene a second-round vote after an unexpected interruption to the count and a sudden shift in Morales' favor triggered allegations of vote-rigging by the opposition.
"I don't want to think the OAS mission is already taking part in a coup d'etat," Morales said, reiterating his accusation that main rival Carlos Mesa was trying to steal his victory.
"There's a coup d'etat (orchestrated) internally and externally. The OAS as a whole should evaluate themselves and the mission it sent as well."
The OAS mission did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Morales, who has governed for almost 14 years, said he would welcome an audit of the final count by the OAS but appeared to reject its condition that its conclusions be legally-binding.
On Thursday morning, the count showed Morales had 46.9% of the vote with nearly 99% of ballots counted - putting him 10 points ahead of Mesa. The winner needs 40% of votes plus a 10-point lead to win outright and avoid a Dec. 15 second round.
(Production: Monica Machicao, Herbert Villarraga, Guillermo Garcia) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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