The re-run election has been postponed twice due to coronavirus. When conservative Senator Jeanine Áñez took over as interim president on 12 November 2019, just days after Mr Morales publicly announced his resignation, she said her task would be to lead the country to a re-run of the October 2019 elections. This vote, in which Mr Morales sought a controversial fourth term, had ended in chaos, conflict and allegations of fraud. Electoral authorities set the fresh elections for 3 May 2020 but with Bolivia gripped by the Covid-19 emergency, they were postponed until 6 September, and then put back again until 18 October. Mr Morales' Mas party and other critics of the right-wing interim government of Ms Áñez have accused it of using the pandemic to try to hold on to power. They say the Áñez administration has focused more on trying to persecute political opponents, especially the exiled Mr Morales, his Mas party and his indigenous supporters, than on working to ensure fair elections and a smooth transition of power. Under the Áñez administration, Mr Morales, who has sought refuge in Argentina, was barred by electoral authorities from standing as a senator, and he has also been formally charged with "sedition" and "terrorism".