Bolivia's right-wing fails to create unified coalition against MAS

La Paz, February 4 (RHC)-- Right-wing parties in Bolivia have failed to create a unified bloc to contest former president Evo Morales' party Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) in the upcoming general election in May.

During a meeting promoted by the Pro Santa Cruz Committee, presidential candidates from the right recognized that it will be difficult to reach an agreement in order to face MAS in the next election.  Among them were coup leaders Jeanine Añez, from Alliance Together; Carlos Mesa, from Citizen Community; Luis Fernando Camacho, from We Believe; Chi Hyun Chung, from Front for Victory, and Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga, from Free 21.

At the meeting, de facto Minister of Interior Arturo Murillo, Fernando Camacho, and Añez exchanged accusations regarding continuous attempts of blocking support on each others campaigns.  The candidacy of Añez was also debated among the candidates, reflecting the division between the right-wing parties that supported the coup against Evo Morales last November.

So far, every organization that supported the coup against Evo has presented its own candidate, and the coup leaders have not been able to find the way together as the coup itself was an “enemy of my enemy” sort of arrangement.

Not being able to find consensus for a coalition, they finally agreed to not attack each other, maintain a "clean and peaceful electoral" campaign, and presenting a common front in the next Plurinational Legislative Assembly to be elected, among others.

Currently, MAS has the strongest support in terms of voting intentions with 26 percent.