Bolivia’s Constitutional Court has disqualified former president Evo Morales from running for re-election in 2025, reversing a ruling that had let him seek a fourth term in 2019.
It said on its website that term limits provide “an ideal measure for ensuring that someone does not perpetuate themself in power.”
Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, Morales first took power in 2006 and was extremely popular until he tried to bypass the constitution and seek a fourth term in office in 2019.
He won that vote but was forced to resign amid deadly protests over alleged election fraud, and fled the country. He returned after his then ally Luis Arce won the presidency in October 2020.
Morales has since fallen out with Arce.
Term limits are inherently antidemocratic.
How so?
Isn’t it obvious? They place a top down limitation on who the voters are allowed to select.
One could argue that any decision in a democracy is inherently democratic, as it has been done by the legitimately elected representatives.
One could argue that any decision in a democracy is inherently democratic, as it has been done by the legitimately elected representatives.