Supporters of former president Evo Morales clashed with Bolivian police in La Paz. They’re protesting the rule of the interim president, opposition Senator Jeanine Anez.

She claimed the office after Morales resigned and fled to Mexico this week.

CGTN’S Dan Collyns has details.

Clashes broke out in Bolivia’s main city, throwing up new challenges to the leadership of newly declared interim President Jeanine Añez. Supporters of the exiled former president refused to accept her as legitimate, and boycotted the sessions in congress where her candidacy was put forward.

But at La Paz’s old presidential palace, Anez’s backers said her appointment followed the dictates of the constitution.

“The transition was carried out legally and she was correctly made president because the former president abandoned the country,” said Bolivian lawmaker Jose Carlos Gutierrez.

It was here, after nearly 14 years under Morales, that Añez swore in the cabinet of her transitional government and appointed new military top brass on Wednesday night.

“We want to be a pathway for inclusion and unity,” Anez told her new administration. “Bolivia cannot continue revolving around a tyrant. I thank you new appointees from the bottom of my heart for being here with courage, with a patriotic spirit and with a willingness to face this difficult challenge of returning our homeland to the control of democratic institutions.”

She said she wanted elections as soon as possible and denied a coup had taken place against the leftist leader. Among her cabinet, which did not have a single indigenous person, was the new foreign minister, Karen Longaric, who said Bolivia is at a turning point. 

“We want to leave behind those times in which the ethnic and class resentments which divide Bolivians are used as an instrument of political control,” Longaric said.

Meanwhile, in Mexico City, the newly-exiled Morales said Añez could not be president because his written resignation had not been accepted by congress.

“Yesterday this self-proclaimed president appeared,” Morales told a press briefing. “I hope I’m not wrong but the constitution says any resignation has to be approved, or rejected.”

Amid the turmoil in Bolivia, the new interim president has completed her first act of government. What lies ahead — creating the conditions for and calling fresh elections — may present a greater challenge. Bolivia’s constitution allows up to three months for new elections to be called, but many Bolivians hope they will be sooner.