Overview

• No candidate secured the required majority on August 17, with Paz at about 32 percent and ex-president Jorge Quiroga at roughly 26 percent, triggering an October 19 runoff.
• The ruling MAS party suffered its worst result in two decades as its candidate garnered only single-digit support.
• Third-place finisher Samuel Doria Medina pledged to back Paz, elevating Paz to front-runner status in the runoff.
• Election day saw security incidents, including a stone attack on left-wing candidate Andrónico Rodríguez and reports of a small explosive detonation.
• Leading opposition platforms promise market-friendly reforms and courting foreign investment in lithium, contrasting with MAS’s resource-sovereignty model and facing a fragmented new parliament.