LA PAZ, May 14, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Bolivian President Luis Arce announced on Tuesday that he would not seek reelection, as a severe economic crisis has sent his poll numbers plummeting.

Elections are to be held in August, and Arce had been declared the candidate for the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party. He had not declared his intent to run, and had until May 11 to make his candidacy official.

"Today I announce to the Bolivian people, with absolute firmness, my decision to decline my candidacy for presidential reelection," he said in a message broadcast by the official Bolivia TV channel.

The president is dealing with a severe economic crisis due to the shortage of dollars and fuel, which has led to protests and has badly hit his chances of renewing his mandate for five more years.

A 61-year-old economist, Arce had previously served as economy minister during the 2006-2019 rule of former president Evo Morales, who is now his greatest political rival.

Morales, Bolivia's first Indigenous president, has been a wanted man since October when prosecutors issued a warrant for his arrest over a case alleging he had a relationship with a teenage girl while in power.

Morales denies the charges and has accused Arce of weaponizing the judiciary against him to stop him from running in the election.

On Tuesday, Arce renewed his call for Morales to abandon his candidacy.

"From here I issue a challenge to former president Evo Morales not to insist on being a candidate for the presidency," he said, while calling for "unity of the left."