Morales Would Defeat Opponents Again in Boliv...

Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research
Morales Would Defeat Opponents Again in Bolivia
May 28, 2008

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - More than a third of adults in Bolivia are ready to re-elect Evo Morales, according to a poll by Captura Consulting SRL. 38 per cent of respondents would vote for Morales in the next presidential election.
Santa Cruz governor Rubén Costas is second with 11 per cent, followed by former president Jorge Quiroga with six per cent, Cochabamba governor Manfred Reyes Villa with five per cent, and former presidential candidate Samuel Doria Medina also with five per cent.
Morales—an indigenous leader and former coca-leaf farmer—won the December 2005 presidential election as the candidate for the Movement to Socialism (MAS), with 53.7 per cent of the vote. He officially took over as Bolivia’s head of state in January 2006.
Morales’ tenure has been focused on "re-founding" Bolivia through a new constitution. In November 2007, a draft constitution was approved with the support of all pro-government National Constituent Assembly members. Opposition parties boycotted the vote. The proposed draft includes articles that allow for consecutive presidential re-election, the creation of 36 autonomous indigenous communities, and tighter government controls over private media outlets. The new charter has yet to be ratified in a national referendum.
Costas—a fierce Morales opponent—called a referendum for May 4 in an effort to increase his department’s autonomy within Bolivia, directly defying articles in the new constitution. Over 80 per cent of voters in Santa Cruz backed the initiative. Bolivia’s National Electoral Court (CNE) did not endorse the results of the ballot, which the government deemed "illegal."
On May 8, Morales enacted a law that schedules a recall referendum on himself, Bolivian vice-president Álvaro García, and the country’s nine governors or "departmental prefects" for Aug. 10. Morales explained his decision to hold the ballot saying, "What I am asking from the Bolivian people is that they judge us, and that they guide us with their vote through the differences that some departmental authorities have with the national government. (...) I am very happy because, personally, I am not afraid of the people."
The next presidential election in Bolivia is scheduled for 2010.
Polling Data
If a new presidential election took place, which of these candidates would you vote for?
Evo Morales
38%
Rubén Costas
11%
Jorge Quiroga
6%
Manfred Reyes Villa
5%
Samuel Doria Medina
5%
Others
10%
Not sure
25%
Source: Captura Consulting SRL
Methodology: Interviews with 850 adult Bolivians in La Paz, El Alto, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba, conducted from May 15 to May 17, 2008. Margin of error is 3.5 per cent.