#BBCtrending: Will a Bolivian politician eat his watch?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-29632329

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Be careful what you promise, or you could end up eating your watch. That seems to be the moral for a presidential candidate in Bolivia after the elections last Sunday.

Former president Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga, one of those challenging incumbent President Evo Morales in a national vote this week, made an election promise that may, in retrospect, have been unwise. He promised to eat his watch if "six out of 10 Bolivians" voted for Morales.

He was so confident that Morales wouldn't make it that he also promised to eat his tie in another interview days later. And now, social media users want to hold him to his word. It has taken several days to count and announce the full results, but early signs suggest that Morales is hovering right around the 60% mark. And so of course, people have taken to Twitter and Facebook to demand that Quiroga keeps his promise.

"When will Tuto Quiroga eat his watch?" asked one. Tuffi Aré, a journalist and prominent Twitter user who interviewed Quiroga before the ballots, tweeted: "Tuto says he will wait for the official figures came out before he eats his watch. He promised me he would eat his tie as well and it is on record."

Humorous memes spread over Facebook and Twitter too. "People were calling him to account and asking him to honour his word," says Priscilla Quiroga, producer and presenter of "Levántate Bolivia" (Get Up, Bolivia), a breakfast television presenter, and a Twitter celebrity in Bolivia.

Quiroga accuses Morales' government of falsifying the election results. Although many Bolivians have commented or shared watch jokes on Facebook and Twitter, the conversation has the partisan tone you might expect. Many of the accounts encouraging Mr Quiroga to eat his watch were linked to president Morales supporters.

In an interview with BBC Trending, Quiroga didn't want to talk about the social media taunts. "The important thing is not the watch. The serious thing is that Morales doesn't have enough votes," he says.

With 90.94% of the votes now counted, Morales has 60.06% of the vote, according to figures published by the Bolivian electoral commission. The final results are expected to be announced today.

Reporting by Constanza Hola Chamy

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