Bolivia - Political parties



Bolivia's proportional representation system has encouraged the formation of several political parties. Numerous parties and coalitions have formed and dissolved over the years, usually tied to the personalities of the various leaders.

The Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario—MNR) was founded by Víctor Paz Estenssoro, Hernán Siles Zuazo, and others in 1941. Although militant originally, the years have moderated the party's stance. The MNR came to power in 1952, with the help of the Revolutionary Workers Party, the carabineros (national police), and the miners' and peasants' militias. In the subsequent years, the MNR began to rely increasingly on foreign aid, especially from the United States, and became increasingly autocratic and corrupt. Finally, quarreling among the party leadership weakened the party, and by 1964 the MNR's monopoly on power had dissolved. In November 1964, Paz was sent into exile in Peru.

The MNR was then eclipsed by the charisma of President René Barrientos and his Popular Christian Movement. The MNR returned as part of the Nationalist Popular Front, organized by Hugo Banzer Suárez. Banzer then outlawed the MNR in November 1974. In the late 1970s, the MNR reappeared, along with a dissident MNRI (the "MNR of the left") headed by Hernán Siles.

With the restoration of Bolivian democracy, the MNRI won the presidency under Siles along with a coalition of leftist parties that included the Communist Party of Bolivia and the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (Movimiento de la Izquierda Revolucionaria—MIR), headed by Jaime Paz Zamora. MIR was an active partner in the Siles government; Paz Zamora was the vice president, and several MIR officials were in the cabinet. MIR won the presidency in 1989 after an extremely close election, and only after seeking support from the right-wing Democratic Nationalist Alliance (Alianza Democrática Nacionalista—ADN).

The ADN was closely tied to former President Hugo Banzer Suarez until his death. Banzer, a former military officer, came to power in an alliance with the MNR, but eventually ruled as a military dictator. This right-wing party was denied power in 1985 by the MNR/MIR coalition. However, the ADN was instrumental in bringing Paz Zamora to power, and held half the ministerial positions in that government. In the most recent presidential election, the ADN candidate only managed to obtain 6.3% of the vote, generating doubt about the future of a party associated with the late leader, Hugo Bánzer.

In June 1997 Banzer, whose dictatorial regime ruled Bolivia from 1971 to 1978, placed first in the nation's presidential election and, with the backing of Congress, was sworn in as president in August. Banzer's own party, the ADN, formed a coalition government with the MIR, the UCS, and Condepa. In 2002, former president Sánchez de Losada narrowly edged peasant activist Evo Morales in the presidential election. As mandated by the constitution, Congress had to choose the president from among the top two vote-getters. Sánchez de Losada, who had obtained 22.5% of the vote, won with overwhelming support from most established political parties, but new groups and party splinters supported Morales. The alternative candidates demonstrated little willingness to work with the Sánchez de Losada administration but they also failed to mount an organized and coherent political opposition. The strength of political parties in Bolivia has been weakened by the emergence of populist activists like Morales and by the resistance of aging party leaders like Sánchez de Losada and Paz Zamora to retire from politics. In addition to the center-left MNR, the leftist MIR, and the center-right ADN, leading political parties include the New Republican Force (NVR) and Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), both populist parties created by presidential candidates Manfred Reyes and Evo Morales respectively. Morales narrowly edged Reyes out in the 2002 presidential election to face Sánchez de Losada in the runoff election in the electoral college.

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