Evo Morales set for win third term in Bolivia elections

LA PAZ - Agence France-Presse

Women walk past a mural featuring Bolivian President Morales in La Paz.

Bolivia’s indigenous President Evo Morales was widely expected to win a third term in power after elections Oct. 12, along with a legislative majority that would permit him to push through his leftist reforms.

Six million Bolivians were casting ballots in the presidential and congressional polls, which would likely expose the weakness of a fragmented opposition.

Morales, who has blended leftwing economic policy with nationalist rhetoric and a focus on indigenous rights and the environment - all while presiding over an economic boom - was seen to have 59 percent support heading into the election, according to surveys. That puts him more than 40 points clear of his nearest rivals: business magnate Samuel Doria Medina, with 18 percent, and former president Jorge Quiroga, with nine percent.

Morales stands to extend his time in office to 14 years, until 2020, after Supreme Court ruled last year that his first term was exempt from a new constitution adopted in 2009 that imposed a limit of one reelection for sitting presidents.