On 13 August, electoral authorities published the date for judicial elections. On 1 December, after a year of delay, voters will be choosing members of the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, Agro-Environmental Tribunal, and members of the Council of Magistrates. This was facilitated on account of agreements between parliamentary groups, including opposition lawmakers who previously had objected to the election of judges by popular vote, but now are encouraging participation to end what they view as the arbitrary extension of terms of members of the judiciary. Lawmakers had been unable to decide on procedural issues related to the voting process and a list of candidates for all the judgeships that will be elected (26 in total), which required a two-thirds majority approval. The agreement also follows differences between the legislature and the judiciary over the legality of the extension of the terms of high court judges, and over the validity of the decisions taken by such judges after their original tenures expired.    

Sources: Órgano Electoral Plurinacional, Hoy Bolivia, El Deber, El Pais, International IDEA

On 26 June, Juan José Zúñiga, a former army chief and general, led other former commanders and members of the military in occupying Plaza Murillo, the main square in La Paz where the offices of the executive and legislature are located.  Zúñiga and armed supporters had entered the square with armoured vehicles.   Zúñiga had been dismissed as army chief a day earlier, after stating he would block any bid from former President Evo Morales to run for re-election in 2025. President Luis Arce confronted  Zúñiga and accused him of leading a coup.  Zúñiga was arrested by police the same day, along with others who participated in the occupation of Plaza Murillo.  Zúñiga, who has been charged with several crimes, has given conflicting remarks regarding his motivations, first alleging his attempt was to free political prisoners and improve conditions for Bolivians, but later suggesting that it had been President Arce who had staged the events of 26 June, as a ploy to boost his approval ratings. 

Sources: Agencia Boliviana de información, CNN, El Pais

On 6 June, the Legislative Assembly approved a bill that suspends judges and magistrates of high courts whose mandates had been prolonged given the delay in the holding of judicial elections. It establishes that such suspensions should be considered to have taken effect on 1 January, and that any subsequent decisions that these judges have issued should be considered as null and void. The bill was supported by center-right opposition members, as well as by the “Evista” wing of ruling party Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), who denounced attempts by “Arcista” lawmakers to suspend the session. Supporters of Evo Morales have long criticized the extension of mandates of judges as illegal. According to the Constitutional Court,  the adopted bill should have no legal effects, as the  Legislative Assembly’s related session was convened by the Senate’s president, and not by Vice-President David Choquehuanca, who would ordinarily preside its sessions (the latter was away on official travel). Confrontation between these two branches of government could continue to delay the holding of judicial elections and certainty over the tenure of acting judges in the coming months.

Sources: Educación Radiofonica de Bolivia, El Pais, Agencia Boliviana de Informacion

The Public Prosecutor’s Office formally charged engineer Edgar Villegas with incitement to commit crimes, based on a complaint by Renán Cabezas, a deputy for the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), the country´s ruling Party. Villegas gained attention in 2019 for exposing discrepancies in election data, fuelling fraud allegations. Today he is accused of being partly responsible for the social upheaval that broke out in the country after the elections. That eventually led to Evo Morales stepping down and leaving the country. Critics and members of the opposition view Villegas’s indictment as political persecution, challenging Bolivia's democratic principles. Former President Jorge Quiroga called it vindictive, recalling the OAS's findings of irregularities during the elections.

Sources: Vision 360, Opinion, Los Tiempos, El Deber

Supporters of former President Evo Morales blocked roads in different regions, including a major highway, demanding the resignation of Constitutional Court judges. They allege that the Court’s recent ruling, which disqualified Morales from running in the 2025 elections, was a judicial ‘coup’. Protesters also allege that the ruling was intended to pave the way for incumbent Luis Arce to run for re-election as the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) candidate, in exchange for the Executive’s support for the extension of judicial terms.  

The ruling directly contradicts a prior 2017 judgment of the same Constitutional Court (albeit with different members).  

Protesters further demanded that judicial elections, which have been delayed since last year, be convened.  

Pressure from the economic losses generated by the roadblocks influenced members of the National Assembly to come to an agreement in early February, deciding that judicial elections should be convened for June. 

Sources: El Litoral, El País (1), El Deber, Infobae, El País (2), El País (3), La Nación, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights