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Bolivian VP accuses opposition of blocking vote count after referendum

Xinhua, February 24, 2016 Adjust font size:

Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera on Tuesday blasted the opposition for "blocking the vote count from the Feb. 21 referendum in rural areas," where the government counts on huge support.

"The right-wing opposition is putting pressure for electoral rules to be broken and is carrying out electoral fraud for rural votes not to be counted," he said during a press conference in La Paz.

Garcia Linera said this situation could critically alter the final results of last Sunday's referendum, in which around 6.5 million Bolivians were allowed to vote on a constitutional reform that would allow President Evo Morales and Garcia Linera to stand for a fourth term in office in 2019. The two have led the country since 2006, winning two more terms in 2010 and 2015.

At the press conference, Garcia Linera said opposition members are present in remote parts of Bolivia to "blackmail" electoral authorities and "intimidate" those in charge of the count.

"An attempt of electoral fraud has been seen in recent hours by right-wing opposition forces against the rural vote and the indigenous vote. These are the votes that have yet to be counted," Linera accused.

According to Bolivia's Supreme Court early Tuesday, the "No" vote stood at 53.3 percent and the "Yes" vote at 46.7 percent, with 85.7 percent of votes counted.

Ahead of Garcia Linera's comments, Manuel Saavedra, a leader of the "Bolivia Says No" campaign, said Monday that the people's decision must be respected.

"We are vigilant to everything that is going on. We do not want there to be fraud, which is why we will continue this close supervision. We call on the Supreme Court to quickly finish its count and then, we will see what will happen," said Saavedra. Endite