Bolivian leader calls for vote on mandate

BOLIVIA: Facing a bitter political crisis over plans to rewrite Bolivia's constitution, President Evo Morales has called for a national referendum to determine whether he should remain president.

In a televised address on Wednesday night, Mr Morales said he would deliver the proposal to Congress yesterday. He challenged his main political opponents - six of the nine regional governors - to stake their political futures on the same kind of vote.

"If the people say that I should go, I don't have a problem with that," said Mr Morales, a socialist who was elected in 2005 promising to nationalise the country's natural resources and give more political power to the indigenous majority. "Let the people say who goes and who stays."

For the past 16 months, an elected assembly has been sparring over the plan by Mr Morales to revamp the constitution, a process he says is necessary to create a more equitable society.

Facing a December 14th deadline to present constitutional changes to voters, the president's supporters in the assembly - who hold a slim majority - passed a rough draft of a new charter last week without opposition participation.

That sparked opposition protests that resulted in three deaths and hundreds of injuries in Sucre, where the assembly had convened. Strikes and protests have continued throughout Bolivia this week. In Santa Cruz, opposition members have camped out in the city's main square, waging a hunger strike.

"Morales is only governing for his people - not for all of Bolivia," said Victor Hugo Bazan (35) who took part in the Santa Cruz hunger strike. "He wants to become a dictator and we can't let him do that."

Several of Bolivia's regional governors are among Mr Morales's fiercest critics. They say proposed constitutional changes would weaken congressional checks and balances and put more power in the president's hands.

© 2007 Washington Post© 2007 Washington Post

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times