President Evo Morales asked Bolivians on Monday to wait "calmly" for the official result of Sunday's referendum on whether he should be allowed to run for re-election, emphasizing that the outcome was still uncertain despite indications he had lost, according to Reuters. Morales, who became Bolivia's first indigenous president in 2006 and is now on his third term, asked if the constitution should be changed so he can run in the 2019 election and potentially remain in power until 2025. Preliminary results of Sunday's vote indicated that he was heading for defeat. By Monday afternoon, with about 40 percent of the vote counted, the "no" was leading the "yes" by some 59 percent to 41 percent, according to the electoral commission. Turnout was high at around 87 percent, it said. But Morales said it was too early to know the final outcome. "I am asking all the social movements, of both 'yes' and 'no', to calmly and responsibly await the final result from the electoral commission," he said in a national broadcast Monday.
