Боливиядағы Әлеуметтік Жұмыс қозғалысы партиясы

Political party in Bolivia
the Bolivian political party

The Movement for Socialism, officially the Movement for Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (Spanish: Movimiento al Socialismo – Instrumento Político por la Soberanía de los Pueblos; MAS or MAS IPSP), is a socialist political party in Bolivia. Its followers are known as Masistas. MAS IPSP has governed the country from 22 January 2006, following the first ever majority victory by a single party in the December 2005 elections, to 10 November 2019, and since the 2020 elections. MAS IPSP evolved out of the movement to defend the interests of coca growers. Evo Morales has articulated the goals of his party and popular organizations as the need to achieve plurinational unity, and to develop a new hydrocarbon law which guarantees 50% of revenue to Bolivia, although political leaders of MAS IPSP recently interviewed showed interest in complete nationalization of the fossil fuel industries, as well as the country's lithium deposits. MAS IPSP is the dominant force in municipal politics in Bolivia. In the most recent municipal elections in 2015, it was the only party to contest leadership of all 339 municipalities. In all, the mayors of 227 municipalities belong to the party, as do 1,144 of the country's 2,022 municipal council members.

The roots of MAS IPSP can be traced to the closures of the Bolivian Mining Corporation and shut down of various mines during the 1980s. Thousands of former miners became coca farmers as their means of survival, but also encountered new hardships in their new profession. The growth of the coca farmer community resulted in a sharp numerical growth of organizations such as Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia (CSUTCB) and Confederación Sindical de Colonizadores de Bolivia. The movement built alliances with the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Eastern Bolivia (CIDOB) and mobilized joint protests in a 1992 campaign titled "500 years of resistance of the indigenous peoples", culminating in a march to La Paz where a protest was held on 12 October 1992 (Columbus Day). The 1992 campaign marked the emergence of a 'peasant Indigenous' movement. However, CSUTCB was wary of building a political party to contest state power. The experiences of the 1980s, when the CSUTCB leadership had been divided over electoral candidatures (of leaders such as Jenaro Flores Santos and Víctor Hugo Cárdenas) had been negative. Rather the organization began discussing the possibility of launching a 'political instrument', a structure in which the trade unions would enter as collective members. Carlos Burgoa Maya traces the initiative for a political instrument to the Third Congress of the CSUTCB (26 June–3 July 1987, Cochabamba) in which several proposals were merged into a document proposing an "Assembly of Nationalities" including traditional authorities to forge "political instruments of the nationalities." In the COB's 9th Congress (May 1992, Sucre), a thesis for worker indigenous unity in "constructing a political instrument" was approved. From 1996 onwards, Evo Morales was a rising star in the ASP leadership. Soon he became a competitor of Veliz. Internal conflict emerged between the followers of Morales and Veliz — evistas and alejistas. ASP wanted to contest the 1997 national elections, but never obtained the registration of a political party at the CNE. Instead, the group contested the election of the lists of the United Left. Veliz was candidate for the presidency and for parliament (on the proportional representation list). However, many trade unions decided not to support Veliz's candidature, accusing him of having manipulated the candidate lists of the United Left. Four ASP members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected from the Chapare province (the entire United Left group): Evo Morales, Román Loayza Caero, Félix Sanchéz Veizaga and Néstor Guzmán Villarroel.

After the 1997 elections a split occurred in ASP and Evo Morales was expelled from the organization. In 1998 the supporters of Evo Morales founded the Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (IPSP). Notably, the majority of the grassroots supporters of ASP sided with Morales in the split. At the time of its foundation, an IPSP flag was adopted. It was brown and green, with a sun in the middle. The decision to go for elections as MAS was taken in Cochabamba in 1998. IPSP decided to adopt the name, banner and colours (cobalt blue, black, and white) of MAS. In January 1999, the organization adopted the name MAS IPSP. In the 1999 elections Quispe aligned himself with Veliz's group, which had decided to contest elections through the Communist Party of Bolivia. MAS IPSP itself however stressed that the adaptation of the name MAS was a mere formality, and the membership cards issued by the organization carried the slogan "legally MAS, legitimately IPSP". According to a study by Xavier Albó and Victor Quispe, the vast majority of the MAS IPSP councilors elected in the 1999 municipal election were indigenous.

During the years of 1998–2002, the grassroot base of MAS IPSP was consolidated, as a result of increasing repression against the coca growers' movement. Whilst Bolivian politics had seen several political parties contesting on populist platforms during the past decades, MAS IPSP and MIP differed from these parties through its strong connections to the peasant organizations. However, the fact that MIP had been accorded registration as a political party by the National Electoral Court (in spite of falling short of having the 10,000 members required for registration) angered MAS IPSP followers. Both within MAS IPSP and amongst political analysts the smooth registration of MIP was described as a move by the political establishment to divide the indigenous vote and to spoil the chances of a possible MAS IPSP/MIP alliance. By this time IPSP had been denied registration by the National Electoral Court four times, citing minor details. The period of 2000–2002 was characterized by a series of social struggles that contributed to the radicalization of the Bolivian polity; the 2000 water war in Cochabamba, Aymara uprisings in 2000 and 2001 and the coca growers' struggle in Chapare. In January 2002, Morales was expelled from the parliament after being accused of masterminding violent confrontations between police and coca growers in Sacaba. The expulsion of Morales from the parliament contributed to the political popularity of MAS IPSP. Ahead of the 2002 national elections, MAS IPSP sought to expand its influence outside its peasant base. Evo Morales stood as presidential candidate and Antonio Peredo as vice presidential candidate. By launching Peredo for the vice presidency, MAS IPSP attempted to gain influence amongst the urban middle classes. MAS IPSP also made an appeal for the supporters of the Marxist left groups to join the campaign and present themselves as MAS IPSP candidates. Prominent MAS IPSP leaders recruited for the 2002 election campaign included Gustavo Torrico, Manuel Morales Dávila and Jorge Alvaro. In their election campaign, MAS IPSP championed 'national sovereignty', denouncing U. S. interventions in Bolivian affairs. The political elite and proponents of neoliberal policies were denounced as 'traitors' supported by the United States. Morales has credited ambassador Rocha for the success of MAS, stating that "[e]very statement [Rocha] made against us helped us to grow and awaken the conscience of the people." Anti US sentiment was further exacerbated when the new ambassador, David Greenlee, made it clear that he would not approve of any president other than Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (Goni). The electoral advance of MAS IPSP was aided by the implosion of the political party Conscience of the Fatherland (CONDEPA). CONDEPA was a populist party which was based in the urban poor, often Aymaras who had migrated to the urban centres of Bolivia. The party had lost much of its popular legitimacy as it was coopted by Hugo Banzer's government, and the party had suffered the death of its main leader just before the 2002 elections. In the polls CONDEPA lost all of their 22 parliamentary seats. The fifth national congress of MAS IPSP was held in Oruro 13–14 December 2003.

In the 2005 general election, Evo Morales was again the presidential candidate of MAS IPSP. He won a clear majority with 53.7% of the valid presidential vote—the first since the restoration of democracy that a presidential candidate had won without the need for a runoff. MAS IPSP obtained 43.5% of the valid uninominal vote, which gave it 72 out of 130 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 12 out of 27 seats in the Senate. In the 2005 prefect elections, MAS campaigned for all nine departmental prefectures (governorships), but only won three: Chuquisaca (43%), Oruro (41.0%), and Potosí (42.7%).

Since taking office, the MAS IPSP government has emphasized modernization of the country, promoting industrialization, increased state intervention in the economy, social and cultural inclusion, and redistribution of revenue from natural resources through various social service programs. Two MAS IPSP heavyweights, Santos Ramírez and Edmundo Novillo (since elected governor of Cochabamba in April 2010 local elections), became the president of the Senate and the House of Deputies respectively. The 2006 elections to the Constituent Assembly further consolidated the position of MAS IPSP as the dominant force in Bolivian politics. In 2007 MAS IPSP was able to register itself as MAS IPSP at the CNE. In the 2010 regional elections, MAS IPSP won the post of governor in six departements (La Paz, Oruro, Potosí, Pando, Chuquisaca and Cochabamba) and finished second in the remaining three (Santa Cruz, Tarija and Beni). In Chuquisaca MAS IPSP had launched 29 year old Estaban Urquizu as its candidate for governor. Urquizu won with 53.9% of the votes, becoming the youngest governor in Bolivian history. In La Paz Department MAS IPSP dropped its candidate Félix Patzi shortly before the elections, after Patzi was arrested for drunk driving. The election was also marked by candidatures of MAS IPSP dissidents. MAS IPSP co founder Lino Villca had founded the Movement for Sovereignty (MPS), which contested the elections. Other former MAS IPSP activists involved in founding the MPS include Óscar Chirinos, Miguel Machaca, and Rufo Calle.

IPSP was founded as a 'political instrument', an organization distinct from the traditional political parties. Hervé do Alto defines the organization as both a political party and a federation of social movements at the same time. As such, MAS IPSP tends to follow a bottom up, decentralized structure, with regional and local branches having a large amount of input on party decisions.

The National Leadership (Dirección Nacional, DN) of MAS IPSP is composed of representatives of the constituent organizations affiliated with MAS IPSP. It is more of a loosely coordinated body rather than a party leadership in the traditional sense. Notably MAS IPSP has not been institutionally consolidated in the way the Workers Party (PT) in Brazil has developed, which also emerged as a political vehicle of social movements. Clause 42 of the Organic Bylaws of MAS IPSP stipulated that candidates in national and local elections should be elected through direct vote at assemblies. The majority of the MAS IPSP candidatures in the 1999 and 2002 elections were selected through this method. However some candidates in the 2002 and 2005 elections were directly appointed by Morales.

The founding member organizations of MAS IPSP are CSUTCB, CSCB, and the Bartolina Sisa federation. The Bolivian Workers' Center (COB) and the National Council of Ayllus and Markas of Qullasuyu (CONAMAQ) are not part of MAS IPSP, but are supportive of the government.

The MAS IPSP ran a joint electoral slate with the Without Fear Movement (MSM) in the 2009 national elections. Shortly afterward, Evo Morales publicly broke with the MSM and its representatives in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly then formed an independent bloc. The three founding organizations of the MAS IPSP are joined by CONAMAQ and the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia (CIDOB) in the Pact of Unity; this group has included other organizations in the past. A larger alliance, the National Coordination for Change (CONALCAM) was formed during the Bolivian Constituent Assembly and includes MAS IPSP executive and legislative politicians as well as social movement organizations.

MAS IPSP publishes Soberanía.

ElectionPresidential nomineeVotes%Votes%ResultFirst RoundSecond Round2002Evo Morales 581,884 20.9%Lost 2005 1,544,374 53.7%Elected 2009 2,943,209 64.2%Elected 2014 3,173,304 61.4%Elected 2019 2,889,359 47.1% Annulled 2020 Luis Arce 3,393,978 55.1%Elected

ElectionParty leaderVotes%Chamber seats +/ PositionSenate seats +/ PositionPolitical position 2002Evo Morales 581,884 20.9% 27 2nd 8 2ndOpposition2005 1,544,374 53.7% 45 1st 4 1stMajority government 2009 2,943,209 64.2% 16 1st 14 1stSupermajority government 2014 3,173,304 61.4% 1st 1 1stSupermajority government 2019 2,889,359 47.1% 21 1st 4 1stAnnulled 2020 3,393,978 55.1% 8 1st 1stMajority government