Bolivian president announces resignation amid protests

Bolivian President Evo Morales announced his resignation in a televised address on Sunday following weeks of protests in the country and demands from military leaders for him to step down.

CNN reported that Morales told viewers that his resignation, which occurred after the Organization of American States (OAS) announced that “serious irregularities” occurred during his reelection last month, was for “the good of the country.”

{mosads}He had earlier in the day agreed to the OAS’s call for new elections to be held.

Several other government officials, including Morales’ vice president, also resigned, according to multiple news reports.

His ouster follows weeks of violent protests that began after the Oct. 20 election, during which at least three people were killed and hundreds more were injured. Police assigned to guard Morales’ presidential palace reportedly abandoned their posts on Saturday.

Carlos Mesa, leader of Bolivia’s top opposition party, had rejected Morales’s calls for negotiations, telling reporters: “I have nothing to negotiate with Evo Morales, who has lost all grip on reality.”