FILE PHOTO: Former Bolivian President Evo Morales gestures during an event at which he proclaims himself as a candidate for the presidency in the 2025 elections, in Cochabamba, Bolivia, April 19, 2025. REUTERS/Patricia Pinto/File Photo
LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivia's constitutional court on Wednesday upheld a lower ruling banning more than two terms as president, in effect blocking former President Evo Morales from running in elections later this year.
The unanimous decision from the court came after years of speculation regarding the constitutionality of a third term, with Morales arguing that not allowing him to run again would violate his human rights.
Morales has already served three terms as president, with a court allowing the final administration because his first came before a constitutional rewrite.
He ran for a fourth term in the 2019 elections, but fled the country after the results were disputed.
Morales responded to the court's decision on Wednesday by saying on X that "only the people" could ask him to give up the candidacy.
Current President Luis Arce, a former mentee of Morales, has said he will not run for re-election.
(Reporting by Daniel Ramos; Editing by Sarah Morland)
