1993 Bolivian general election

General elections were held in Bolivia on 6 June 1993.[1] As no candidate for the presidency received over 50% of the vote, the National Congress was required to elect a president on 4 August. Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada of the MNR-MRTKL alliance was subsequently elected unopposed.

1993 Bolivian general election

6 June 1993
Turnout	72.16% ( 1.5pp)
Nominee Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada Hugo Banzer Carlos Palenque Party MNR ADN CONDEPA Alliance MNR-MRTKL Patriotic Accord[lower-alpha 1] none Running mate Víctor Hugo Cárdenas Óscar Zamora Medinaceli Ivo Kuljis Fuchner Popular vote 585,837 346,865 235,427 Percentage 35.55% 21.05% 14.29%   Nominee Max Fernández Antonio Araníbar Quiroga Party UCS MBL Alliance none none Running mate Edgar Talavera Soliza Miguel Urioste Fernández Popular vote 226,816 88,260 Percentage 13.77% 5.36%
Results by department (left) and province (right)
President before election Jaime Paz Zamora MIR Elected President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada MNR

Campaign

Prior to the elections, the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) of incumbent Jaime Paz Zamora and the Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN) of ex-president Hugo Banzer formed the Patriotic Accord (AP) alliance. Hugo Banzer, in his fifth bid for the presidency, was presented as the Patriotic Accord's candidate in the election.

Banzer's primary opponent was the returning Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) candidate Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. The MNR's alliance with the Revolutionary Liberation Movement Tupaq Katari (MRTKL) saw Víctor Hugo Cárdenas, an indigenous Aymara, chosen as Sánchez de Lozada's running mate in an attempt to appeal to Bolivia's indigenous population.

The AP was faced with the negative image of corruption faced by Paz Zamora's government and the defensive campaign of Hugo Banzer. Two factors which made the MNR the clear front runner to win the election.[2]

The campaign also saw the emergence of the "neo-populist" Max Fernández and Carlos Palenque candidates who drew the support of sector of the population discontented with the mainstream political parties. Palenque of Conscience of Fatherland (CONDEPA), in his second run, campaigned on a platform of returning to the ideals of the 1952 National Revolution. Solidarity Civic Unity (UCS), in the party's first presidential run, presented Max Fernández.[3]

Prior to the elections the Nationalist Democratic Action and Revolutionary Left Movement parties formed the Patriotic Accord alliance, whilst eight left-wing parties continued the United Left coalition.[4]

A total of 14 candidates were presented for the presidential election.

Results

Party		Presidential candidate	Votes	%	Chamber		Senate
					Seats	+/–	Seats	+/–
	MNR–MRTKL	Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada	585,837	35.55	52	+12	17	+8
	Patriotic Accord	Hugo Banzer	346,865	21.05	35	–36	8	–8
	Conscience of Fatherland	Carlos Palenque	235,427	14.29	13	+4	1	–1
	Solidarity Civic Unity	Max Fernández	226,816	13.77	20	New	1	New
	Free Bolivia Movement	Antonio Araníbar Quiroga	88,260	5.36	7	New	0	New
	Bolivian Renewal Alliance	Casiano Ancalle Choque	30,867	1.87	1	New	0	New
	Alternative to Democratic Socialism	Jerjes Justiniano Talavera	30,286	1.84	1	New	0	New
	Revolutionary Vanguard of 9 April	Carlos Serrate Reich	21,100	1.28	0	New	0	New
	Bolivian Socialist Falange	José Mario Serrate Paz	20,947	1.27	0	0	0	0
	Pachakuti Axis	Félix Cárdenas Aguilar	18,176	1.10	1	New	0	New
	United Left	Ramiro Velasco Romero	16,137	0.98	0	–10	0	0
	National Katarista Movement	Fernando Untoja Choque	12,627	0.77	0	New	0	New
	National Organisation of Independents	Oscar Bonifáz	8,096	0.49	0	New	0	New
	Democratic Federalist Movement	Carlos Valverde	6,269	0.38	0	New	0	New
Invalid/blank votes			83,599	–	–	–	–	–
Total			1,731,309	100	130	0	27	0
Registered voters/turnout			2,399,197	72.16	–	–	–	–
Source: Nohlen

Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada won the popular vote by 35.56% to Hugo Banzer's 21.05%. The CONDEPA and UCS candidates won a similar number of votes with a 0.52% difference between Max Fernández and Carlos Palenque. The remaining 10 candidates won 15.34% of the vote between them.

By department

Department	PA	MNR-MRTKL	UCS	CONDEPA	Others
Beni	36.93%	41.40%	11.52%	1.25%	8.89%
Chuquisaca	26.23%	31.95%	12.67%	2.52%	26.62%
Cochabamba	21.05%	40.45%	18.75%	3.73%	16.02%
La Paz	13.85%	31.33%	10.52%	30.58%	13.72%
Oruro	18.24%	33.27%	20.31%	11.71%	16.47%
Pando	50.72%	33.09%	6.96%	0.43%	8.80%
Potosi	22.58%	30.65%	19.48%	6.29%	21.00%
Santa Cruz	26.98%	40.52%	13.01%	4.35%	15.15%
Tarija	30.29%	42.34%	13.79%	1.76%	11.82%
Source: Constituency-Level Election Archive

Congressional ballot

On 4 August 1993, the National Congress convened to elect the president. Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was the only candidate voted on, and was supported by his MNR-MRTKL alliance as well as the UCS and MBL. All others parties abstained from voting.[5] Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was elected president while Víctor Hugo Cárdenas became Bolivia's first indigenous vice president.

Party		Presidential candidate	Votes	%
	Revolutionary Nationalist Movement	Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada	97	61.78
Abstained			60	38.22
Total			157	100
Source: Morales[5]

See also

• Bolivian National Congress, 1993–1997

Notes

1. Coalition consisting of ADN, MIR, PDC, and PCB (ML)

References

1. Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II, p133 ISBN 978-0-19-928358-3
2. Gisbert, pp. 174 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFGisbert (help)
3. Gisbert, pp. 176 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFGisbert (help)
4. Elections held in 1993 IPU
5. Walter Q Morales (2003) A brief history of Bolivia New York: Facts On File, p205

Bibliography

• Gisbert, Carlos D. Mesa (2003). Presidentes de Bolivia: entre urnas y fusiles : el poder ejecutivo, los ministros de estado (in Spanish). Editorial Gisbert.