Politics of Bolivia

The politics of Bolivia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president is head of state, head of government and head of a Diversity multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament. Both the Judiciary and the electoral branch are independent of the executive and the legislature.

La Paz is Bolivia's Seat of Government.

Constitution

Main article: Constitution of Bolivia

Bolivia's current constitution was adopted via referendum in 2009, providing for a unitary secular state.

Executive Branch

Cabinet of Bolivia Third Presidency of Evo Morales, 2015–
Office	Name	Term
Presidency	Evo Morales	2006–present
Vice Presidency	Álvaro García Linera	2006–present
Ministry of the Presidency	Juan Ramón Quintana	2012–present
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Chancellor)	David Choquehuanca	2006–present
Ministry of Government	Carlos Romero Bonifaz	2012–present
Ministry of Defense	Reymi Luis Ferreira Justiniano	2015–
Solicitor General's Office	Héctor Enrique Arcé Zaconeta	March 2014–present
Ministry of Cultures	Marko Machicao Bankovic	2015–present
Ministry of Development Planning	René Gonzalo Orellana	2015–present
Ministry of Autonomy	Hugo José Siles del Prado	2015–present
Ministry of Education	Roberto Aguilar Gómez	2008–present
Ministry of Rural Development and Land	César Cocarico	31 August 2015–present
	Nemesia Achacollo Tola	2010–31 August 2015
Ministry of Economy and Finance	Luis Alberto Arce Catacora	2006–present
Ministry of Public Works, Services, and Housing	Milton Claros Hinojosa	2015–present
Ministry of Mining and Metallurgy	Félix César Navarro Miranda	8 April 2014–present
Ministry of Justice	Virginia Velasco Condori	2015–present
Ministry of Health	Ariana Campero Nava	2015–present
Ministry of Sports	Tito Rolando Montaño Rivera	2014–present
Ministry of Work, Employment, and Social Security	José Gonzalo Trigoso Agudo	2015–present
Ministry of Institutional Transparency and the Fight against Corruption	Lenny Tatiana Valdivia Bautista	2015–present
Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energy	Luis Alberto Sánchez Fernández	2015–present
Ministry of the Environment and Water	María Alexandra Moreira López	2015–present
Ministry of Productive Development and the Plural Economy	Ministra de Desarrollo Productivo y Economía Plural (Nuevo)	2015–present
Ministry of Communication	Marianela Paco Durán	2015–present
Unless otherwise specified, Ministerial transitions occurred during annual appointments in January: on 23 January in 2010, 2011, and 2012.

The president is elected to a five-year term by popular vote. In the case that no candidate receives an absolute majority of the popular vote, congress will elect the president from among the two candidates most voted.

Hence, Hugo Banzer Suárez was elected president in 1997. Although no candidate had received more than 50% of the popular vote in the national election, Banzer won a congressional runoff election on 5 August 1997 after forming the so-called "megacoalition" with other parties. He resigned in August 2001 and was substituted by his vice president Jorge Fernando Quiroga. In August 2002, the winner of the national election Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was chosen president by Congress, winning an 84-43 vote against popular vote runner-up Evo Morales. Elected president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada resigned in October 2003, and was substituted by vice-president Carlos Mesa who governed the nation until his resignation in June 2005. He was replaced by chief justice of the Supreme Court Eduardo Rodríguez, acting as caretaker president. Six months later, on December 18, 2005, cocalero leader Evo Morales was elected president.

A group of MEPs acting as election observers oversaw a constitutional referendum in Bolivia that gave more power to indigenous peoples 25 January 2009. The tightly fought referendum laid out a number of key reforms such as allowing President Evo Morales to stand for re-election, state control over natural gas and limits on the size of land people can own.

File:Palacio Quemado (Palacio de Gobierno) y Catedral Metropolitana de La Paz, Bolivia.jpg

Palacio Quemado, seats the executive power.

Ministries

Bolivia currently has twenty-one ministries in the executive branch, including the Procuradoría or Solicitor General's Office. The heads of these ministries form the cabinet.

Legislative branch

Plurinational Legislative Assembly.

The bicameral Plurinational Legislative Assembly consists of the Chamber of Senators (36 seats; members are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies (130 seats; 70 are directly elected from their districts, 63 are elected by proportional representation from party lists, and 7 are elected by indigenous peoples of most departments, to serve five-year terms).

Judicial branch

The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Tribunal, the Judiciary Council, Agrarian and Environmental Tribunal, and District (departmental) and lower courts.

• Plurinational Constitutional Tribunal (Spanish: Tribunal Constitucional Plurinacional) — rules on the constitutionality of government or court actions
• Supreme Court or Supreme Tribunal of Justice (Spanish: Tribunal Supremo de Justicia)
• Agrarian and Environmental Tribunal (Spanish: Tribunal Agroambiental) — highest court authority in matters of agriculture and the environment
• Judiciary Council (Spanish: Consejo de la Magistratura) — oversees the conduct of courts and judges, including misconduct and ethical violations
• District Courts (one in each department)
• Provincial and local courts

In October 2011, Bolivia held its first judicial elections to choose members of the national courts by popular vote. Twenty-eight elected members and twenty-eight alternates were sworn in on 3 January 2011 in Sucre.

Plurinational Constitutional Tribunal

The members of the Plurinational Constitutional Tribunal, elected in October 2011, are: Ligia Velásquez, Mirtha Camacho, Melvy Andrade, Zoraida Chanes, Gualberto Cusi, Efraín Choque, and Ruddy Flores. The elected alternate members are: Isabel Ortuño, Lidia Chipana, Mario Pacosillo, Katia López, Javier Aramayo, Miriam Pacheco, and Rommy Colque.

Supreme Tribunal of Justice

The members of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, elected in October 2011, are: Maritza Suntura (La Paz Department), Jorge Isaac Von Borries Méndez (Santa Cruz), Rómulo Calle Mamani (Oruro), Pastor Segundo Mamani Villca (Potosí), Antonio Guido Campero Segovia (Tarija), Gonzalo Miguel Hurtado Zamorano (Beni), Fidel Marcos Tordoya Rivas (Cochabamba), Rita Susana Nava (Tarija), and Norka Natalia Mercado Guzmán (Pando). The elected alternate members are: William Alave (La Paz), María Arminda Ríos García (Santa Cruz), Ana Adela Quispe Cuba (Oruro), Elisa Sánchez Mamani (Potosí), Carmen Núñez Villegas (Tarija), Silvana Rojas Panoso (Beni), María Lourdes Bustamante (Cochabamba), Javier Medardo Serrano (Tarija), and Delfín Humberto Betancour Chinchilla (Pando). Gonzalo Miguel Hurtado Zamorano was elected President of the Tribunal on 3 January 2012.

The Supreme Tribunal replaces the Supreme Court of Justice, active since Bolivia's founding in 1825.

Judiciary Council

The members of the Judiciary Council, elected in October 2011, are (in order of total votes received): Cristina Mamani, Freddy Sanabria, Wilma Mamani, Roger Triveño, and Ernesto Araníbar. Cristina Mamani was elected by her peers as the first president of the Judiciary Council on 4 January 2012.

Agro-environmental Tribunal

The members of the Agro-environmental Tribunal, elected in October 2011, are (in order of total votes received): Bernardo Huarachi, Deysi Villagómez, Gabriela Armijo Paz, Javier Peñafiel, Juan Ricardo Soto, Lucio Fuentes, and Yola Paucara. The elected alternate members are: Isabel Ortuño, Lidia Chipana, Mario Pacosillo, Katia López, Javier Aramayo, Miriam Pacheco, and Rommy Colque.

Electoral branch

The electoral branch of Bolivia's government, formally the Plurinational Electoral Organ, is an independent branch of government which replaced the National Electoral Court in 2010. The branch consists of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the nine Departmental Electoral Tribunals, Electoral Judges, the anonymously selected Juries at Election Tables, and Electoral Notaries. Wilfredo Ovando presides over the seven-member Supreme Electoral Tribunal. Its operations are mandated by the Constitution and regulated by the Electoral Regime Law (Law 026, passed 2010). The Organ's first elections will be the country's first judicial election in October 2011 and five municipal special elections expected to be held in 2011.

Local government

Bolivia is divided in nine departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, Beni, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija. Bolivia's nine departments received greater autonomy under the Administrative Decentralization law of 1995. Departmental autonomy further increased with the first popular elections for departmental governors, known as prefects, on 18 December 2005. Departments are governed by the elected governors (until 2010, prefects; and until 2005, appointed by the President) and by independently elected Departmental Legislative Assemblies (until 2010; Departmental Councils).

Bolivian cities and towns are governed by directly elected mayors and councils. Municipal elections were last held on 4 April 2010, with both mayors councils elected to five-year terms. The Popular Participation Law of April 1994, which distributes a significant portion of national revenues to municipalities for discretionary use, has enabled previously neglected communities to make striking improvements in their facilities and services.

Political parties and elections

For other political parties see List of political parties in Bolivia. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Bolivia.

The governing Movement for Socialism (Movimiento al Socialismo, MAS) is a Left-wing, Socialist political party led by Evo Morales, founded in 1997. It has governed the country since 2006, following the first ever majority victory by a single party in the December 2005 elections. MAS evolved out of the movement to defend the interests of coca growers. Currently, the MAS stands as a party committed to equality, indigenous rights, agrarian land reform, Constitutional reform as well as nationalization of key industries with an aim to redistribute the returns through increased social spending. Among the poor, rural and indigenous population the MAS enjoys nearly unanimous support.

The right-of-center opposition includes a variety of political parties. During the 2005-09 political cycle the largest of these was PODEMOS, a successor to Nationalist Democratic Action. In the 2009 elections, several parties and politicians united to form Plan Progreso para Bolivia – Convergencia Nacional, whose presidential candidate, Manfred Reyes Villa and parliamentary slate came in second in the 2009 elections.

Candidate		Party	Votes	Percentage	Deputies	Senators
	Evo Morales Ayma	Movement for Socialism	2.943.209	64,22	88	26
	Manfred Reyes Villa	Plan Progress for Bolivia – National Convergence	1.212.795	26,46	37	10
	Samuel Doria Medina	National Unity Front	258.971	5,65	3
	René Joaquino Carlos	Social Alliance	106.027	2,31	2
	Ana María Flores	Social Patriotic Unity Movement	23.257	0,51
	Román Loayza	People	15.627	0,34
	Alejo Véliz	Peoples for Liberty and Sovereignty	12.995	0,28
	Rime Choquehuanca	Social Democratic Bolivia	9.905	0,22
		Valid votes	4.582.786	94,31
		Blank votes	156.290	3,22
		Null votes	120,364	2,48
		Total votes	4.859.440	100	130	36
Source: Comisión Nacional Electoral

Three political parties were dominant from 1982 to 2005: The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement which had carried out the 1952 Revolution; Revolutionary Left Movement; and Nationalist Democratic Action founded in 1982 by former dictator and later elected President Hugo Banzer. Despite the revolutionary names of the first two, they generally pursued centrist economic policies.

Other parties include:

• Bolivian Socialist Falange or FSB – Romel Pantoja
• Civic Solidarity Union or UCS – Johnny Fernández
• Free Bolivia Movement or MBL – Franz Barrios
• Marshal of Ayacucho Institutional Vanguard or VIMA – Freddy Zabala
• Movement of the Revolutionary Left or MIR – Jaime Paz Zamora
• Movement Without Fear or MSM – Juan Del Granado
• Nationalist Democratic Action or ADN –
• Socialist Party or PS – Jerjes Justiniano

Social movements

Some of Bolivia's social movements are:

• Cocalero Groups – Evo Morales
• "El Alto" Social Movements Roberto De La Cruz
• indigenous organization: Aymara Indigenous Confederate Movements Felipe Quispe
• "El Alto" FEJUVE Abel Mamani
• labor unions
• Sole Confederation of Campesino Workers of Bolivia or CSUTCB – Roman Loayza
• Autonomic Oriental Party

International affairs

International organization participation:

ALBA, CAN, CELAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OAS, ONUB, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNAMSIL, UNASUR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNMISET, UNOCI, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO

See also

• History of Bolivia
• List of presidents of Bolivia

References

• Information cited from- The European Parliament News Service- Article on EU Observers in Bolivia
•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the CIA World Factbook.
•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Department of State (Background Notes).

External links

• Chamber of Deputies of Bolivia
• Senate of Bolivia
• Presidency of Bolivia
• Supreme Court of Bolivia
• Decolonization's Rocky Road: Corruption, Expropriation and Justice in Bolivia by Benjamin Dangl, March 14, 2009
• Plan 3000: Resistance and Social Change at the Heart of Racism by Raúl Zibechi, America's Program Report, April 30, 2009