⁍ Bolivia’s presidential election race has tightened after interim President Jeanine Anez dropped out.

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⁍ The withdrawal of Anez, who took power in a vacuum last year, will strengthen other centrist and conservative runners.

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⁍ Morales was forced to step down last year after allegations of electoral fraud sparked widespread protests.

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– The race for president of Bolivia is tightening after the candidate seen as the front-runner dropped out. Interim President Jeanine Anez had been leading in the polls, but she announced Friday that she would not run in the re-run of last year’s election, Reuters reports. Anez took power in a vacuum after former leftist President Evo Morales was ousted in a coup. Anez had around 10% of the likely vote, according to a recent poll. The withdrawal of Anez, who took power in a vacuum last year, will strengthen other centrist and conservative candidates, who are behind in the polls against Luis Arce, the candidate of former leftist President Evo Morales’ MAS party. Morales was forced to step down last year after allegations of electoral fraud sparked widespread protests. Morales, currently in Argentina, has said he was toppled in a coup. Anez had around 10% of the likely vote, according to a recent major poll. Anez has not yet endorsed another candidate and Mesa said on Friday he was the only candidate that could take on MAS. Arce leads the pack with around 40% of the vote, the recent poll before Anez’s withdrawal showed, while Mesa had around 26%. A candidate needs 40% of the vote and a 10-point lead to claim outright victory in the first round. The Oct. 18 election will be key to the direction of the landlocked country, which under Morales was an ally of Venezuela and Cuba, but which under Anez has swung dramatically toward the right, including rekindling ties with the US.