Early results from Bolivia's presidential runoff election showed centrist Senator Rodrigo Paz headed for a clear victory with 54.5 per cent of the vote, Bolivia's electoral tribunal announced on Sunday, paving the way for the political transformation of this crisis-hit Andean nation after two decades of one-party rule.

With official results still trickling in from across the country, the preliminary count showed Paz's rival, right-wing former President Jorge ''Tuto'' Quiroga, clinching 45.4 per cent of the vote.

Bolivians voted on Sunday in an unprecedented presidential runoff between two conservative, capitalist candidates, ushering in a new political era after 20 years of almost continuous rule by the Movement Toward Socialism party.

The race was in a dead heat as voters, looking for

See Full Page