European Parliament 2019-2024

Plenary sitting

B9-0189/2019

25.11.2019

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

to wind up the debate on the statement by the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

pursuant to Rule 132(2) of the Rules of Procedure

on the situation in (2019/2896(RSP))

Anna Fotyga, Assita Kanko, Ryszard Czarnecki, Angel Dzhambazki, Andrey Slabakov, Karol Karski, Jadwiga Wiśniewska, Raffaele Fitto, Adam Bielan, Beata Kempa, Carlo Fidanza, Ruža Tomašić, Jan Zahradil, Veronika Vrecionová, Hermann Tertsch, Valdemar Tomaševski on behalf of the ECR Group

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EN United in diversityEN B9-0189/2019

European Parliament resolution on the situation in Bolivia (2019/2896(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the statement of 10 November 2019 by the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the situation in Bolivia,

– having regard to Bolivia’s referendum of January 2009 approving the new ,

– having regard to ruling of the Constitutional Court of Bolivia of April 2013,

– having regard to Bolivia’s referendum of February 2016, rejecting the abolishment of the presidential term limit,

– having regard to ruling of the Constitutional Court of Bolivia of November 2017 scrapping the presidential term limit,

– having regard to the communication of the Constitutional Court of Bolivia of 12 November 2019,

– having regard to the partial preliminary results (TREP) announced by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) on 20 October 2019,

– having regard to the statement of the Electoral Observation Mission of the Organisation of American States (OAS) in Bolivia of 21 October 2019,

– having regard to the statement of the Group of Auditors Electoral Process in Bolivia of 10 November 2019,

– having regard to the statement of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet of 16 November 2019,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Bolivia,

– having regard to the final results released by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) on 25 October 2019,

– having regard to the OAS preliminary findings report to the general secretariat of 20 October 2019,

– having regard to presidential decree No 4078 by interim President Jeanine Áñez Chávez of 15 November 2019,

– having regard to Rule 132(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas has controversially held the office of president without

PE643.358v01-00 2/5 RE\1193473EN.docx EN interruption between 22 January 2006 and 10 November 2019 as a result of contested methods used to pressure the highest constitutional authority to bend the rules in order to allow him to remain in office, which the constitution of Bolivia did not allow until 2014;

B. whereas the 2016 referendum, through which Morales sought to seek a fourth term by abolishing the term limit, was narrowly rejected by the people; whereas he nonetheless decided to ignore that decision and continued to push for an overturning of the constitution on this point;

C. whereas the Constitutional Court scrapped the term limits just in time to allow Morales to participate in the 2019 elections for a fourth consecutive presidential term, as a result of the blatant and strong influence the Morales government had exerted over the highest constitutional power (the Constitutional Court);

D. whereas presidential elections took place in Bolivia on 20 October 2019 and, other than a moderately tense atmosphere, no violent outbreaks had been observed up until the final results;

E. whereas Bolivia’s interim government filed a criminal complaint against former President Evo Morales last Friday for alleged sedition and terrorism;

F. whereas the TSE gave an unexpected and unreasoned order to halt the vote count until Monday 21 October 2019 at 19.00, after which Morales took the lead within minutes at over 10 % as a result of ballot meddling efforts by the Morales government, which were later confirmed by the OAS audit report;

G. whereas the body in charge of administrating the elections lacked any credibility; whereas under such circumstances the people of Bolivia did not recognise the results of the elections and denounced alleged electoral fraud;

H. whereas the OAS audit report found irregularities in four areas: the IT system for the TREP and the final results, the chain of custody of electoral materials, the lawfulness and integrity of the results forms, and a statistical analysis of the results, and concluded that the election results should be annulled and fresh elections held as soon as appropriate conditions are in place, including a new TSE;

I. whereas both Evo Morales and Álvaro García Linera resigned as President and Vice-President, respectively, on 10 November, following public pressure and calls by the armed forces for their resignation, and have sought asylum in Mexico;

J. whereas second vice-president of the senate, Senator Jeanine Áñez Chávez was instated as interim president, in accordance with Article 169.1 of the constitution of Bolivia, and with the backing of the Constitutional Court of Bolivia, reiterating that the presidential succession must never be interrupted; whereas several resignations have entitled second vice-president Jeanine Áñez to assume the interim presidency, with the obligation to quickly call for new presidential elections as this is the only democratic and constitutional way to resolve the current crisis; whereas on 14 November 2019, Bolivia’s interim government and lawmakers from the party of unseated candidate Evo Morales were trying to reach an agreement to hold a new presidential election;

RE\1193473EN.docx 3/5 PE643.358v01-00 EN K. whereas according to the constitution, new elections are to be held within 90 days of an interim president taking office;

L. whereas violence and protests have resulted in hundreds of casualties;

1. Expresses its deepest objection to the current wave of violent confrontations between members and followers of the opposing parties and the possible threat of further incremental escalations and conveys its condolences to all family members of the victims;

2. Welcomes the unanimous decision of both chambers of Bolivia’s Congress to approve a bill that annuls the results of the country’s presidential vote last month and allows for new elections to be held;

3. Denounces the lack of transparency and credibility, and the attempt to commit fraud by the Bolivian authorities, thereby undermining the right of Bolivian citizens to freely and democratically elect their President;

4. Expresses strong concerns regarding the contentious flexibility with which Morales has bent the rules to serve his purpose of remaining in power for over 10 years, thereby dividing the country and ultimately leading to the violent outbreaks witnessed in October and November 2019 and which are still ongoing;

5. Strongly condemns the electoral fraud, which constitutes a serious crime; recalls that under Bolivian legislation individuals and organisations involved in such illegal process must be automatically excluded from electoral bodies and elections must be annulled;

6. Calls for all parties to respect and uphold the rule of law in order to guarantee and protect democracy and a democratic transition of power;

7. Reiterates the importance of caution when exercising the rights granted to the armed forces in presidential decree No 4078;

8. Recalls statements made by interim president Áñez in response to allegations made over the past weeks, reaffirming that the armed forces are continuing to operate under the control of the government;

9. Considers that it is of vital importance for former top candidates and Evo Morales to actively and publicly call for an end to the protests and violence, in support of a constitutional solution to the current political and administrative deadlock;

10. Strongly condemns efforts by exiled former president Morales to undermine the democratic process and new elections by spreading hate propaganda and actively inciting the public to stand against the interim government and armed forces, which no longer support him;

11. Calls for those responsible for the casualties among the civilian protesters to be brought to justice following an impartial investigation;

12. Strongly supports calls for new elections to be held as soon as January 2020 and for

PE643.358v01-00 4/5 RE\1193473EN.docx EN further solutions to pave the way for a new democratic presidential election and lawful transition of power;

13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and the Government of Bolivia.

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