A vote of confidence in

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to c ...

in the form of a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

was held in Bolivia on 10 August 2008."Morales 'wins' Bolivia referendum"
Al Jazeera, August 11, 2008. The vote was held to determine whether Morales,

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

Álvaro García Linera Álvaro Marcelo García Linera (; born 19 October 1962) is a Bolivian politician, sociologist, marxist theoretician, and former guerilla who served as the 38th vice president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. A member of the Movement for Socia ...

, and eight out of nine

departmental ''Departmental'' is a 1980 Australian TV movie based on a play by Mervyn Rutherford. It was part of the ABC's Australian Theatre Festival.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p43 Reviews were poor ...

Prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

s should stay in office.Simon Gardner
"Morales seen winning Bolivia vote, reforms in air"
Reuters (''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''), August 7, 2008 (accessed August 7, 2008). Morales received more than 67% support and six of the eight prefects were returned. The prefects of

Cochabamba Department Cochabamba ( ay, Quchapampa Jach'a Suyu, es, Departamento de Cochabamba , qu, Quchapampa Suyu), from Quechua ''qucha'' or ''qhucha'', meaning "lake", ''pampa'' meaning "plain", is one of the nine departments of Bolivia. It is known to be the ...

and La Paz Department were defeated and had to face re-election.

Background

The referendum was initially suggested by Morales in December 2007, but was rejected by the opposition at the time. However, the opposition-controlled Senate brought back the suggestion following their victory in the Santa Cruz autonomy referendum on 4 May 2008, with Morales agreeing to hold the vote. The

recall election A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of of ...

would be deemed successful if the percentage voting in favour of the recall exceeded the percentage of voters that originally voted for the person. For Morales and Linera, there would have to be more than 53.74% (their margin in the 2005 presidential election). The same rules apply for the governors, but their margins are between 48% and 38% in La Paz Department which makes their recall much easier to accomplish. If the recall is successful then fresh elections would be held. Morales has stated that if he stays in office, he will use the referendum result as a springboard for more reforms – for instance, setting a date for the

constitutional referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

which would grant more rights to Bolivia's poor indigenous population. If he loses, he said he would go back to farming

coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, ...

. Polls in May 2008 showed Morales easily defeating the recall. Following

autonomy referendums In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...

held in the second quarter of 2008 in Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando and

Tarija Tarija or San Bernardo de la Frontera de Tarixa is a city in southern Bolivia. Founded in 1574, Tarija is the largest city and capital and municipality within the Tarija Department, with an airport ( Capitán Oriel Lea Plaza Airport, (TJA)) off ...

, the governors of these four states initially refused to take part in the recall referendum unless the referendum complied with the new autonomy statutes, which the Supreme Electoral Court considers to be invalid; they pushed for early elections to be held instead. Nonetheless, the governors later agreed to participate. However, there were still obstructive measures from these four departments a few days before the referendum. The recall referendum did not apply to the governor of

Chuquisaca Department Chuquisaca () ( ay, Chuqisaka; qu, Chuqichaka) is a department of Bolivia located in the center south. It borders on the departments of Cochabamba, Tarija, Potosí, and Santa Cruz. The departmental capital is Sucre, which is also the consti ...

, as

Savina Cuéllar Savina Cuéllar Leaños (born 30 January 1963) is a Bolivian politician who formerly as governor of the Department of Chuquisaca. She is of Quechua ancestry and one of the leading oppositionists to president Evo Morales. 2006 she joined the Bo ...

was just elected very recently in June 2008. Cuéllar was a member of the

Bolivian Constituent Assembly The most recent Constituent assembly of Bolivia was the Constituent Assembly of 2006–07, which drafted a new Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis ...

for Morales' Movement for Socialism, but ran for governorship of Chuquisaca as the candidate of the opposition Interinstitutional Committee Alliance, winning with 55% to MAS' Wálter Valda's 45%. The gubernatorial election was held after the previous governor, David Sánchez of MAS, resigned (against the wish of his party) due to violent protests. Shortly before the election, the rules were changed, though the legality of this move remains in doubt; under the new rules, the governors will be removed from office if over 50% of voters recall them, effectively raising the threshold required.James Painter
"Divided Bolivia set for referendum"
BBC News, August 9, 2008.

Results

, - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;" , Position ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;" , Party ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Candidate ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Votes against recall ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , % against recall ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , % threshold ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Result , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

, , Movement Toward Socialism , , Juan Evo Morales Ayma

, , 2,103,732 , , 67.41% , , 53.7% , , Survived , - , style="text-align:left;" , Prefect of Beni Department , , PODEMOS , , Ernesto Suárez , , 64,866 , , 64.25% , , 44.64% , , Survived , - , style="text-align:left;" , Prefect of

, , Allianza Comité Interinstitucional , ,

, , colspan=4 style="text-align:center;" , Not voting , - , style="text-align:left;" , Prefect of

, , Nueva Fuerza Republicana , ,

Manfred Reyes Villa Manfred Armando Antonio Reyes Villa Bacigalupi (born April 19, 1954) is a Bolivian politician, businessman, and former military officer. He was elected mayor of the city of Cochabamba five consecutive times, and became the elected Prefect of ...

, , 195,290 , , 35.19% , , 47.64% , , Recalled , - , style="text-align:left;" , Prefect of La Paz Department , , , , José Luis Paredes , , 362,214 , , 35.48% , , 37.99% , , Recalled , - , style="text-align:left;" , Prefect of

Oruro Department Oruro (; Quechua: ''Uru Uru''; Aymara: ''Ururu'') is a department of Bolivia, with an area of . Its capital is the city of Oruro. According to the 2012 census, the Oruro department had a population of 494,178. Provinces of Oruro The departme ...

, , , , Alberto Luis Aguilar , , 84,364 , , 50.86% , , 40.95% , , Survived , - , style="text-align:left;" , Prefect of

Pando Department Pando is a department in Northern Bolivia, with an area of , in the Amazon Rainforest, adjoining the border with Brazil and Perú. Pando has a population 154,355 (2020 census). Its capital is the city of Cobija. The department, which is named ...

, , PODEMOS , ,

Leopoldo Fernández Leopoldo Fernández Ferreira (born 22 May 1952) is a Bolivian politician. A member of Social and Democratic Power (PODEMOS) Fernández was Prefect (Governor) of the northern Bolivian department of Pando from 2006 to 2008. Fernández was the f ...

, , 14,841 , , 56.21% , , , 48.03% , , Survived , - , style="text-align:left;" , Prefect of

Potosí Department Potosí (; Aymara: ''Putusi''; qu, P'utuqsi) is a department in southwestern Bolivia. It comprises 118,218 km2 with 823,517 inhabitants (2012 census). The capital is the city of Potosí. It is mostly a barren, mountainous region with on ...

, , , , Mario Virreira , , 171,629 , , 79.08% , , 40.69% , , Survived , - , style="text-align:left;" , Prefect of

Santa Cruz Department Santa Cruz () is the largest of the nine constituent departments of Bolivia, occupying about one-third (33.74%) of the country's territory. With an area of , it is slightly smaller than Japan or the US state of Montana. It is located in the e ...

, ,

Autonomy for Bolivia In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

, ,

Ruben Costas Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Rúben in European Portuguese; Rubens in Brazilian Portugue ...

, , 451,191 , , 66.43% , , 47.87% , , Survived , - , style="text-align:left;" , Prefect of

Tarija Department Tarija () is a department in Bolivia. It is located in south-eastern Bolivia bordering with Argentina to the south and Paraguay to the east. According to the 2012 census, it has a population of 482,196 inhabitants. It has an area of . The city ...

, , Civic Committee , , Mario Cossío , , 78,170 , , 58.06% , , 45.65% , , Survived , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=6 , Source
National Election Court of Bolivia

References

External links

IFES ElectionGuide.org Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolivian vote of confidence referendum, 2008 2008 elections in South America Vote of confidence referendum 2008 referendums Recall elections 2008 vote of confidence referendum August 2008 events in South America