Counting begins, Evo Morales comments

Описание: (19 Dec 2005)

1. Wide shot of Bolivian high school in La Paz where Evo Morales is accompanied by Movement towards Socialism candidate for La Paz provincial elections
2. Various of Evo Morales walking in the school through crowd of media and MAS supporters
3. Wide shot of news camera crews
4. Mid pan from camera crews to Morales
5. SOUNDBITE (Spanish): Evo Morales, Bolivian presidential candidate for Movement towards Socialism (MAS) party:
"I have been informed that in the few polls that have already been closed and I have more than 50 percent plus one."
6. Wide shot of Morales surrounded by news media
7. Mid shot of Morales surrounded by crowds of supporters and journalists
8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish): Vox pop, Movement towards Socialism (MAS) supporter:
"I support MAS (Movement towards Socialism) to change the nation and to stop the corruption of this party (indicating the Podemos party headquarters)."
9. Wide shot of discussions between MAS and Podemos Supporters
10. Former president Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga kissing and hugging elderly woman after voting
11. Various of election officials taping up ballot boxes and removing them from polling stations
12. Various of officials counting ballot papers

STORYLINE:

Socialist Evo Morales was leading his conservative rival by more than ten percentage points in Bolivia's presidential election on Sunday, according to two independent exit polls.

The unexpectedly wide margin means Mr Morales - an Aymara Indian who is hoping to become the country's first indigenous presidential candidate - could well be declared president in January.

According to an Equipso Mori poll, Morales had 45 percent of the vote. Former President Jorge Quiroga had a third of the vote.

Voting officially ended in Bolivia on Sunday evening. Socialist presidential candidate Evo Morales told supporters he was confident of a first-round victory.

The former coca leaf farmer has vowed to be "Washington's nightmare," exerting more state control over South America's second-largest natural gas reserves and ending the US-backed campaign to eradicate the coca plant.

The plant is used to make cocaine for consumption in richer nations.

If Morales fails to win more than half of the popular vote, Bolivia's newly elected Congress must decide the presidency - a parliamentary process that would involve some coalition building. That is likely be a moderating influence on Morales.

Former President Jorge Quiroga vowed to bow to US pressure on coca and keep Bolivia on its 'free-market' track, despite anti-globalisation street uprisings by a poor Indian majority that have ousted two presidents since 2003.

Officials reported that voting went peacefully as the polls closed. Official returns were expected to arrive hours later.

The winner starts a five-year term on January 22 as Bolivia's fourth president in under four years.

Hundreds of international monitors, including a group from the Organisation of American States, made it one of the mostly closely watched elections in the country's history. Voting was conducted under heavy police guard on Sunday.

Many Indians blame the country's free-market policies for enriching white elite at the expense of the majority poor.

Morales counts Cuba's Fidel Castro and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez among his friends, along with socialists in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay who have gained power at the ballot box this decade.

The winner will succeed caretaker President Eduardo Rodriguez, a Supreme Court justice appointed by Congress on June 8, two days after street protests ended the 18-month administration of Carlos Mesa.

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