LA PAZ – Bolivia’s President Evo Morales has said he will call a new election after international monitors questioned the validity of his victory last month.
The Organisation of American States (OAS), which monitored the election, found “clear manipulation” and called for the result to be annulled.
Reports of election fraud sparked off weeks of anti-government protests.
Opposition leader Carlos Mesa said Morales and his vice-president should not run in the new poll.
Nor should they preside over the electoral process, he said.
“If you have an iota of patriotism, you should step aside,” Mesa said at a news conference.
The president, who was first elected in 2006, has denied any wrongdoing and ignored calls to resign.
“The candidacies must be secondary; what comes first is to pacify Bolivia,” he told a local radio station.
In his announcement on Sunday, he also said the country’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TES) would be overhauled before the poll, with parliament choosing its members. (BBC)
