Enero 28, 2005
Prefect Elections - June 12
The government of Carlos Mesa announced that on June 12, all nine Departments of the Republic of Bolivia will elect a Prefect. Each Prefect will have a term of five years, although those elected this coming June will only serve until 2007. In the past, prefects were named by the President.
In addition to this Decree 27988, Mesa also announced that the price of diesel will come down to 3.72 Bs./liter.
Now, it's Evo's turn. He had announced that if there was a change allowing for the direct election of Prefects that he will begin blockading the road through the Chapare (linking the West to the East).
In my opinion, the direct election of Prefects is a good thing. Although this change is coming way too fast. Changes are needed to ensure that the election of Prefects will not follow the norm of Presidential and Municipal elections and their pacted coalitions.
Posted by eduardo at Enero 28, 2005 10:28 PM
Comments
Hey, I cant' find the text of the DS that allows for election of prefects. I found most of it, but not Articles 4 & 5. Mostly, I'm curious about a few things I didnt' see talked about in the DS.
If prefects are elected as one person in a multiparty system, will the prefect be elected by simple plurality? imagine a prefect elected by 10% of the vote in an 11-candidate field. or will there be runoff voting between the top 2 candidates? how about not electing a prefect, but a departmental assembly, w/ proportional representation, and the assembly choosing the prefect (as in municipal & national elections)?
it's not enough to say "let's hold elections". you also need to stipulate the electoral method. but i'm sure the CNE will tell mesa this soon enough.
Posted by: Miguel Centellas at Enero 29, 2005 11:00 AM
Try this:
http://www.comunica.gov.bo/cgi-bin/index.cgi?h20050128221608
" El Presidente de la República designará como Prefecto del Departamento al candidato que en la votación hubiera obtenido la mayoría simple de los votos válidos emitidos."
It sounds like it will be the one that receives the highest number of votes. Although I would like to see a run-off, especially if there will not be a legislature in each Dept. I think all of that will be determined in the coming weeks/months.
Posted by: eduardo at Enero 29, 2005 12:11 PM
Thanks. Wow, I double checked to make sure that "mayoria simple" meant "simple plurality" (most votes) rather than "simple majority" (50%+1). The current CPE refers to the election of uninominal deputies by "simple mayoria" (and they are elected by simple plurality, not majority). Yikes. That is a recipe for disaster. Who the f**k advised Mesa about this?! Does he even talk to people like Jorge Lazarte or other current/former CNE workers?
Posted by: Miguel Centellas at Enero 29, 2005 05:33 PM