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Bolivia’s interim president to sign bill on new presidential election on Sunday

Jeanine Anez thanked legislators for approving the document, which provides for the cancellation of the outcome of the October 20 vote

BUENOS AIRES, November 24. /TASS/. Bolivia’s interim president Jeanine Anez has said that she will sign the bill on holding new general elections in the country approved by the parliament on Sunday.

"Tomorrow at 10:00 (17:00 Moscow time), I will sign the bill on a special and transitional period for holding general elections," she wrote in a Twitter post on Saturday night.

Anez thanked legislators for approving the document, which provides for the cancellation of the outcome of the October 20 vote. The bill also says that new judges of Bolivia’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal and regional commissions are to be appointed and the election should be held as soon as possible.

The presidential election in Bolivia was held on October 20. According to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Evo Morales who was the head of state at that time won in the first round. His main competitor, Carlos Mesa, said that he did not recognize Morales' victory in the first round. After the outcome of the election was announced, large-scale protests and strikes erupted across the country. The country’s armed forces, opposition and labor unions urged Morales to step down.

On November 10, Morales announced his resignation describing the situation in the country as a coup. Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera, several ministers and parliament members resigned as well.

The Mexican authorities granted political asylum to Morales. Morales arrived in Mexico on November 12. Later on that day, Bolivian Senator Jeanine Anez declared herself interim president.

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