On Wednesday, Bolivia’s President Luis Arce was expelled from his own party, the Movimiento al Socialismo (Mas), at the initiative of supporters of his main political rival, former President Evo Morales, who is also a member of Mas. Accordingly official version, also published by Morales on Another 28 Arce-affiliated Mas members were also expelled, including the party’s vice president, David Choquehuanca. The expulsions must be confirmed by the national authorities responsible for overseeing the electoral process. Arce’s supporters judged the congress to be illegitimate.
For years, the Mas has been internally divided between Arce’s supporters and those of Morales, who have been accusing each other of allegations of corruption, ties to the drug trade and betrayal for months. At the end of September, Morales announced that he wanted to run in the next presidential election in 2025. Whether Arce wants to run and whether he will be able to do so is currently unclear, according to some sources. The Bolivian press presented an amendment to the party statute during the congress, according to which only members who have been members for more than 10 years will be considered Mas representatives can run for office, a requirement that Arce does not meet. Like expulsions, changes to the statute must be approved by national authorities.
Arce became President of Bolivia in October 2020. After the resignation and flight abroad of Morales, the socialist president who ruled the country for 13 years, from 2006 to 2019, extraordinary elections were held. The fourth term of office, not provided for in the Bolivian constitution, triggered a political crisis. Morales returned to Bolivia after Arce’s election, sparking a power struggle between the two.
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