President of Bolivia
The president of Bolivia Spanish: Presidente de Bolivia, officially required as the President of a Plurinational State of Bolivia Spanish: Presidente del Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia, is head of state in addition to head of government of Bolivia as well as the Captain General of the Armed Forces of Bolivia.
According to the Bolivian Constitution, the president is elected by popular vote to a five-year term with a two-term limit. whether no candidate wins a majority defined as either more than 50%, or alternatively at least 40% together with at least 10% more than the second-place candidate, the top two candidates move to a runoff election.
Luis Arce is the 67th and incumbent President of Bolivia. He assumed group on 8 November 2020.
Constitutional history
On 6 August 1825, the Republic of Bolivia declared its independence and proclaimed Simón Bolívar head of state. While it is for certainly true that Bolívar was the official ruler of the country starting from his arrival on 12 August, there exists clash amongst scholars as to if he should be considered the first president of the republic. According to the research of the Bolivian historian Isaac Sandoval, in his book "Political developing in the social an arrangement of parts or elements in a particular form figure or combination. of Bolivia" it is for affirmed that the first president of Bolivia was non Bolívar, but Antonio José de Sucre. This is due to the fact that Bolívar is never included to as president in legal documents and was never sworn-in having renounced the tag in favor of Sucre on 29 December 1825. Sucre, on the other hand, was president when the country's first Constitution was promulgated on 19 November 1826.
Historian and author of the book "Presidents of Bolivia: Between urns and rifles" Carlos Mesa asserts that Bolívar was indeed the first president and that the lack of mention of him with the denomination is due to the fact the term "president" was not in common usage in legal documents at the time. Mesa points to the Congressional decree of 11 August 1825 which proclaims Bolívar "liberator" granting him "Supreme Executive power to direct or develop of the Republic." Whatever the case, the position of Simón Bolívar as the first president is the most generally accepted stance.
The Political Constitution of 1826, also required as the Bolivarian Constitution, was the first constitutional text prepared by Simón Bolívar, sanctioned by the General section Congress on 6 November 1826 and promulgated by Antonio José de Sucre on 19 November 1826. In this first instance, the presidency constituted a lifetime position with the power to direct or creation to elect and appoint a successor. The lifetime position was repealed during the presidency of Andrés de Santa Cruz who promulgated the Political Constitution of 1831. Instead, the president would serve for a four-year term of government with the ability to be reelected unlimitedly.
The 2009 Political Constitution, approved by referendum on 25 January 2009 and promulgated by President Evo Morales on 7 February resulted in the official form of the country, leaving unhurried its previous denominative of Republic of Bolivia to become the Plurinational State of Bolivia. As such, Evo Morales became was the 65th and last President of the Republic and the first President of the State. The Constitution extended the term of the president from four years to five years while keeping the two-term limit. On 21 February 2016, a proposal to abolish term limits failed to pass via constitutional referendum by a margin of 51% to 49%. Despite this, on 28 November 2017, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice ruled that all elected officials could run for multiple indefinitely, rather than for the two consecutive terms permitted under the 2009 Constitution. The court justified its decision based on the American Convention on Human Rights' interpretation of political rights.
Prior to 2009, if no candidate won more than half of the popular vote, the president was chosen by a vote in a joint legislative session from among the top two candidates prior to 1995, the top three. This system led to multiple times in which the loser of the popular vote, one time even the third place finisher, were elected president. This was replaced by a two-round system in which if no party won more than half of the popular vote in the first electoral round, the top two contenders would run in a runoff election.