Branches of Government in Bolivia

Executive Branch

The executive branch is headed by a President and Vice President, and consists of a variable number (currently, 20) of government ministries. The president is elected to a five-year term by popular vote. In the case that no candidate receives an absolute majority of the popular vote or more than 40% of the vote with an advantage of more than 10% over the second place finisher, a run-off is to be held among the two candidates most voted.

Hence, Hugo Banzer Suárez was elected president in 1997. Although no candidate had received more than 50% of the popular vote in the national election, Banzer won a congressional runoff election on 5 August 1997 after forming the so-called “megacoalition” with other parties. He resigned in August 2001 and was substituted by his vicepresident Jorge Fernando Quiroga.

In August, 2002 the winner of the national election Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was chosen president by Congress, winning an 84-43 vote against popular vote runner-up Evo Morales. Elected president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada resigned in October 2003, and was substituted by vice-president Carlos Mesa who governed the nation until his resignation in June 2005.

He was replaced by chief justice of the Supreme Court Eduardo Rodríguez, acting as caretaker president. Six months later, on December 18, 2005, cocalero leader Evo Morales was elected president.

A group of MEPs acting as election observers oversaw a constitutional referendum in Bolivia that gave more power to indigenous peoples 25 January 2009. The tightly fought referendum laid out a number of key reforms such as allowing President Evo Morales to stand for re-election, state control over natural gas and limits on the size of land people can own.

Current Situation:
President Evo Morales holds the office since January 22, 2006 along with the Vice President Álvaro García Linera. The cabinet of the second presidency of Evo Morales consists of the following Ministers:

  • Ministry of the Presidency: Oscar Coca Antezana
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Chancellor): David Choquehuanca
  • Ministry of Government: Sacha Sergio Llorenti Soliz
  • Ministry of National Defense: María Cecilia Chacón Rendón
  • Solicitor General’s Office (replaced Ministry of Legal Defense of the State): Hugo Raúl Montero Lara
  • Ministry of Cultures: Elizabeth Salguero
  • Ministry of Development Planning: Elba Viviana Caro Hinojosa
  • Ministry of Autonomy: Carlos Romero Bonifaz
  • Ministry of Education: Roberto Aguilar
  • Ministry of Rural Development and Land: Nemecia Achacollo Tola
  • Ministry of Economy and Finance: Luis Alberto Arce Catacora
  • Ministry of Public Works, Services, and Housing: Walter Juvenal Delgadillo Terceros
  • Ministry of Mining and Metallurgy: José Antonio Pimentel Castillo
  • Ministry of Justice: Nilda Copa Condori
  • Ministry of Health and Sports: Nila Heredia Miranda
  • Ministry of Work, Employment, and Social Security: Daniel Santalla
  • Ministry of Institutional Transparency and the Fight against Corruption: Nardi Suxo
  • Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energy: José Luis Gutiérrez Pérez
  • Ministry of the Environment and Water: Julieta Monje Villa
  • Ministry of Productive Development and the Plural Economy: Ana Teresa Morales
  • Ministry of Communication (created 16 February 2011): Iván Canelas

Legislative Branch

Bolivia’s government is a republic. The Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional (Plurinational Legislative Assembly or National Congress) has two chambers. The Cámara de Diputados (Chamber of Deputies) has 130 members elected to five year terms, seventy from single-member districts (circunscripciones) and sixty by proportional representation. The Cámara de Senadores (Chamber of Senators) has 36 members (four per department), elected to five year terms.

Judiciary Branch

The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Tribunal, the Judiciary Council, and District (departmental) and lower courts.

  • Supreme Court (Corte Suprema), judges appointed for 10-year terms by National Congress
  • District Courts (one in each department)
  • Provincial and local courts

Electoral Branch

The electoral branch of Bolivia’s government, formally the Plurinational Electoral Organ, is an independent branch of government which replaced the National Electoral Court in 2010. The branch consists of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the nine Departmental Electoral Tribunals, Electoral Judges, the anonymously selected Juries at Election Tables, and Electoral Notaries.

Wilfredo Ovando presides over the seven-member Supreme Electoral Tribunal. Its operations are mandated by the Constitution and regulated by the Electoral Regime Law (Law 026, passed 2010). The Organ’s first elections will be the country’s first judicial election in October 2011 and five municipal special elections expected to be held in 2011.