By Xinhua,
Lima : Exit polls showed on Sunday that Bolivian President Evo Morales has won the recall referendum to remain in office, according to reports reaching here from La Paz, the administrative capital of Bolivia.
According the exit poll conducted by the ATB commercial television station and the firm Captura Consulting, Morales has garnered 60 percent of valid ballots.
Analysts said the victory would boost Morales’ clout in pushing forward his socialist reforms in this Andean nation amid strong opposition.
The 60 percent of “yes” votes means Morales, a former leader of coca-growers, now has wider support than in December 2005, when he was elected president of Bolivia with 53.7 percent of the vote.
Bolivians voted on Sunday to decide if Morales, Vice President Alvaro Garcia and eight of the nine governors would continue in office.
The preliminary results pointed to the defeat of two opposition governors in the highland province of La Paz and in Cochabamba.
Morales’ followers rallied at Murillo square in La Paz to celebrate the triumph of the country’s first indigenous president.
Speaking at the headquarters of the Coca-growers Confederation of Labor Union in Cochabamba, Morales said he was “amazed” at the “democratic participation of the Bolivian people.”
The Electoral National Court (CNE) will release the official results of the referendum in seven or 10 days.