Bolivian general election, 1997

General elections were held in Bolivia on 1 June 1997.^[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. Hugo Banzer of Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN) was subsequently elected. Whilst the ADN emerged as the largest party in Congress, it failed to win a majority of seats, and formed a coalition government with the Revolutionary Left Movement, Conscience of Fatherland and the Civic Solidarity Union.^[2]

Campaign

Economic and social issues dominated the campaign, with all major parties promising to continue the free market policies implemented by outgoing President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. Whilst Revolutionary Nationalist Movement leader Juan Carlos Duran emphasised the free market reforms, ADN leader Hugo Banzer promised to improve the lives of the indigenous population.^[2]

Results

Party	Presidential candidate	Votes	%	Seats
				Chamber	+/–	Senate	+/–
ADN–NFR–PDC	Hugo Banzer	484,705	22.2	32	–	11	–
Revolutionary Nationalist Movement	Juan Carlos Durán	396,235	18.2	26	–	5	–
CONDEPA–MP	Remedios Loza Alvarado	373,528	17.1	19	+6	3	+2
Revolutionary Left Movement	Jaime Paz Zamora	365,005	16.7	23	–	6	–
Civic Solidarity Union	Ivo Kuljis	350,728	16.1	21	+1	2	+1
United Left	Alejandro Véliz Lazo	80,806	3.7	4	+4	0	0
Free Bolivia Movement	Miguel Urioste	67,244	3.0	5	–2	0	0
Socialist Vanguard of Bolivia	Jerjes Justiniano Talavera	30,212	1.4	0	New	0	New
Axis of Patriotic Accordance	Ramiro Barrenechea	18,327	0.8	0	–1	0	0
Bolivian Democratic Party	Eudoro Galindo	10,381	0.5	0	New	0	New
Invalid/blank votes		143,946	–	–	–	–	–
Total		2,321,117	100	130	0	27	0
Registered votes/turnout		3,252,501	71.4	–	–	–	–
Source: Nohlen

Congressional ballot

Hugo Banzer was supported by his ADN–NFR–PDC alliance, as well as the Revolutionary Left Movement, Conscience of Fatherland and the Civic Solidarity Union. His only opponent, Juan Carlos Durán, was only supported by his own Revolutionary Nationalist Movement party. The United Left and the Free Bolivia Movement did not support either candidate.

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Hugo Banzer	ADN–NFR–PDC	118	79.7
Juan Carlos Durán	Revolutionary Nationalist Movement	30	20.3
Invalid/blank votes		0	–
Total		148	100
Registered voters/turnout		157	94.3
Source: Centellas

See also

• Bolivian National Congress, 1997–2002

References

1. Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II, p133 ISBN 978-0-19-928358-3
2. Elections held in 1997 IPU