Anghela Mejía Montecinos (born 1 August 1985) is a Bolivian economist and politician who served as a substitute party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies under Franz Choque from Oruro from 2010 to 2014. A youth activist in support of departmental autonomy, she fulfilled the remainder of Choque's term from 2014 to 2015. Barred from contesting local public office in the 2015 regional elections, Mejía sought to return to the Chamber of Deputies in the 2020 elections but was unsuccessful.

Anghela Mejía
Headshot of Anghela Mejía
Official portrait, 2014
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
from Oruro
In office
14 August 2014 – 18 January 2015
SubstituteWilliams Torrez
Preceded byFranz Choque
Succeeded byFrancisco Quispe
ConstituencyParty list
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
from Oruro
In office
25 January 2010 – 14 August 2014
DeputyFranz Choque
Preceded byCarmela Pinaya
Succeeded byWilliams Torrez
ConstituencyParty list
Personal details
Born
Anghela Mejía Montecinos

(1985-08-01) 1 August 1985 (age 39)
Oruro, Bolivia
Alma materTechnical University of Oruro
Occupation
  • Economist
  • politician

Early life and political career

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Anghela Mejía was born on 1 August 1985 in Oruro. She studied economics at the Technical University of Oruro. Mejía entered political activity in 2008 as a member of Youth x Bolivia (JxB), an autonomist activist group that lobbied for the recognition of self-rule in the Oruro Department.[1][2] Oruro had been one of five departments that overwhelmingly rejected regional autonomy in a 2006 referendum,[3] but by the time the question was asked again in 2009, over seventy percent of the population voted in support of it.[4]

That year, as part of the alliance between JxB and National Convergence,[5] Mejía was selected to represent the university sector in the Chamber of Deputies.[1] She was elected as a substitute for Franz Choque, with the pair together serving as the only opposition legislators representing Oruro in either legislative chamber.[6] When Choque resigned to seek reelection in mid-2014, Mejía fulfilled the remainder of his term.[7] The following year, the Social Democratic Movement nominated her for a seat in the Oruro Departmental Legislative Assembly.[8] However, her candidacy was disqualified,[9] an issue faced by many legislators from the outgoing Legislative Assembly. In a controversial ruling, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) had barred nearly all outgoing parliamentarians from running for local public office, arguing that their permanent residence in the last two years had been La Paz, the seat of government, and not their respective regions, contravening the Constitution's residency requirements for candidates.[10] Though the TSE opted to exclude substitute legislators from its ruling, reasoning that, on average, they resided more in their constituencies than their full-time counterparts,[11] many—like Mejía—were still disqualified because they had taken their companion's seats, thus counting as titular deputies.[12] Unable to compete in 2015, Mejía sought to return to the Chamber of Deputies in the 2020 elections as a member of the Libre 21 alliance,[13] which sponsored Jorge Quiroga's presidential candidacy. However, in a bid to unite the divided opposition field, Quiroga withdrew his name from the ballot just days before the election, thus disqualifying Libre 21's entire slate of candidates.[14][15]

Electoral history

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Electoral history of Anghela Mejía
Year Office Party Alliance Votes Result Ref.
Total % P.
2009 Sub. Deputy Youth x Bolivia National Convergence 20,170 8.99% 2nd[a] Won [16]
2015 Assemblywoman Social Democratic Movement None Disqualified Lost [9]
2020 Sub. Deputy Independent Libre 21 Withdrew Lost [15]
Source: Plurinational Electoral Organ | Electoral Atlas

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ Presented on an electoral list. The data shown represents the share of the vote the entire party/alliance received in that constituency.

Footnotes

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  1. ^ a b Vargas & Villavicencio 2014, p. 228
  2. ^ "¿Jóvenes por Bolivia? inician campaña autonómica en Oruro". Agencia de Noticias Fides (in Spanish). La Paz. 4 June 2008. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  3. ^ Staff writer (3 July 2006). Written at La Paz. "Cinco departamentos votan 'No' a las autonomías y cuatro por el 'Sí', según datos parciales a pie de urna". Notimérica (in Spanish). Madrid. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  4. ^ Staff writer (7 December 2009). Written at La Paz. "Los departamentos de La Paz, Cochabamba, Oruro, Potosí y Chuquisaca respaldan su autonomía en referéndum". Notimérica (in Spanish). Madrid. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  5. ^ "Diputada y funcionaria de la Brigada enfrentadas por denuncia de exacción". La Patria (in Spanish). Oruro. 19 July 2011. p. 4. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  6. ^ Romero Ballivián 2018, p. 162
  7. ^ "Posesionan a nuevos asambleístas". El Diario (in Spanish). La Paz. 14 August 2014. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  8. ^ "'Demócratas' tienen 24 candidatos a la ALDO". La Patria (in Spanish). Oruro. 3 January 2015. p. 5. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  9. ^ a b "Candidaturas habilitadas para las Elecciones Subnacionales 2015 | Oruro" (PDF). oep.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Plurinational Electoral Organ. 2015. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 December 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  10. ^ Staff writer (29 December 2014). Written at La Paz. "TSE ordena inhabilitar candidatura de legisladores". Opinión (in Spanish). Cochabamba. Agencia de Noticias Fides. Archived from the original on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  11. ^ "TSE avala exclusión de legisladores suplentes del veto a elecciones de marzo en medio de anuncios de procesos". La Razón (in Spanish). La Paz. 14 January 2015. Archived from the original on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  12. ^ "A diez días de las elecciones continúan las inhabilitaciones de candidatos en Tarija". El País (in Spanish). Tarija. 19 March 2015. Archived from the original on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Candidaturas habilitadas para las Elecciones Generales 2020 | Libre 21" (PDF). oep.gob.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Plurinational Electoral Organ. 2020. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  14. ^ "Tuto Quiroga se retira de la carrera electoral". Correo del Sur (in Spanish). Sucre. 11 October 2020. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  15. ^ a b "TSE aclara que votos de Libre 21, Juntos y ADN son computados como nulos". Página Siete (in Spanish). La Paz. 21 October 2020. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  16. ^ "Elecciones Generales 2009 | Atlas Electoral". atlaselectoral.oep.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Plurinational Electoral Organ. Retrieved 5 June 2022.

Bibliography

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