PRESIDENT ACCEPTS REFERENDUM ON HIS PRESIDENCY.

MISNA
9 May 2008

In a new turning point in the political crisis underway for months in the nation, Bolivian President Evo Morales agreed to a national recall vote on his rule, which he had already proposed last December and that the opposition controlled Senate unanimously authorised in a surprise move yesterday. The recall initiative was immediately approved by Congress, but held up for months in the Senate. “I confirm my decision to give back to the people the decision to say who should or should not rule”, said Morales, defining the referendum on his presidency “a way to deepen democracy and express respect of legality”.

The President urged the Congress to promptly pass legislation for the convocation of the vote, after which Bolivian voters will go to the polls within 90 days to decide whether or not to ratify his rule, that of his Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera and nine regional ‘prefectos’ (governors), most of which make up the hardline opposition to the central government, which last Sunday resulted in a controversial referendum for the autonomy of the nation’s richest eastern department of Santa Cruz. By law, to revoke the President’s term the percentage of ‘no’s’ would need to be higher than that obtained by Morales when he was elected in 2005 (53.7%, equivalent to 1,544,374 votes); in which case Morales would have to call new general elections in 3-6 months. If the governors are not ratified, they would have to immediately leave their posts and be replaced by ‘interim’ officials designated by the President until new local elections.