LA PAZ, Bolivia — Rodrigo Paz, a centrist senator, will be Bolivia’s next president, preliminary results showed on Sunday, paving the way for a major political transformation after almost 20 years of rule by the Movement Toward Socialism party and during the nation’s worst economic crisis in decades.

“The trend is irreversible,” “scar Hassenteufel, the president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, said of Paz’s lead over his rival, former right-wing President Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga. Paz won 54.5% of the votes, early results showed, versus Quiroga’s 45.5%.

Paz and his popular running mate, ex-police Capt. Edman Lara, galvanized working-class and rural voters outraged over record inflation and an acute dollar shortage that has sapped food and fuel supplies.

But for all their disillusionment

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