Bolivian President Evo Morales resigned on Sunday following pressure from the military and the public after his re-election victory resulted in weeks of deadly protests. The opposition claimed the elections were marred by fraud and irregularities.
“I am resigning, sending my letter of resignation to the Legislative Assembly,” Morales said in a televised address, reported Reuters.
The outgoing president urged protesters to “stop attacking the brothers and sisters, stop burning and attacking”. He added that it was his obligation as indigenous president and president of all Bolivians to seek peace in the country.
Vice president, Álvaro García Linera, also resigned from his post. Both Morales and Linera admitted no wrongdoing and instead insisted that they were victims of a coup. He also announced new elections and a new electoral commission.
Morales’ resignation and call for new elections was announced after an audit by the Organization of American States called for the October polls to be annulled. The Organization of American States found serious irregularities in the vote won by Morales.
“The manipulations to the computer systems are of such magnitude that they must be deeply investigated by the Bolivian State to get to the bottom of and assign responsibility in this serious case,” the OAS report said. “The first round of elections held on October 20 must be annulled and the electoral process must begin again.”
The audit results ignited widespread protests around the country. Three people died and hundreds were injured in the three weeks of street protests.
Bolivia’s military chief and the police also joined the calls for the president’s resignation. While the election observers found irregularities in the poll, Morales said he had been the victim of a coup. He said he was resigning from his post to help protect families of political allies after their homes were burned down.
However, later in a Twitter post, Morales said that the police had an “illegal” warrant for his arrest and that “violent groups” had attacked his home. He has not yet said whether he will run again.
