Bolivians Ponder a Female President

Adults in Bolvia are split over the gender of their next head of state, according to a poll by Apoyo, Opinión y Mercado. 39 per cent of respondents would rather have a woman as president, while 36 per cent would prefer a man.

Evo Morales—an indigenous leader—won the December 2005 presidential election as the candidate for the Movement to Socialism (MAS), with 53.72 per cent of the vote. He officially took over as Bolivia’s head of state in January.

On Aug. 6, the National Constituent Assembly, tasked with re-writing Bolivia’s constitution, held its first session. The assembly can sit for one year, and its proposed body of law must be approved by two-thirds of the 255 lawmakers, and then ratified in a nationwide referendum.

MAS member Silvia Lazarte currently serves as president of the Constituent Assembly. In last year’s presidential election, television reporter María René Duchén was the running mate of presidential candidate Jorge Quiroga of We Can (Podemos).

Earlier this year, Chile’s Michelle Bachelet became the first woman to be elected president of a Latin American country.

Polling Data

Would you prefer a man or a woman to become president?

Oct. 2006	Oct. 2005
A woman	39%	31%
A man	36%	52%
Not sure	25%	17%