MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolivia can't agree on Congressional election

A political agreement to call early Congressional elections next December in Bolivia was frustrated in the Lower House because of the iron opposition from groups that are demanding a previous election of delegates for an assembly to review the constitution.

Fifty four of the 105 Deputies present in the Lower House on the third day of debate voted against the initiative to cut short the mandate of legislators, which end in 2007, so impeding a general election next December, in coincidence with the Executive renewal, as is being demanded by the Bolivian population.

"I hope this impediment is only temporary. We must search for a consensus?" indicated Mario Cossio, president of the Lower House.

The Movement Toward Socialism, MAS, led by Evo Morales, the second strongest group in Congress, and one of the main instigators of months of street protests, and the conservative New Republican Force, NRF, are demanding a constitutional assembly before the general election in December.

The original proposal under debate scheduled a general election December 4 and for the constitutional assembly July 2006.

However there was another controversial issue on the table which remained unsolved and that is regional referendums to decide on greater autonomy for Bolivia's nine regions. Santa Cruz, the richest and supported by other four provinces, is lobbying strongly for the referendum and has programmed it for next August.

The eight main leaders of Bolivian parties are desperately trying to find a solution to the ongoing political crisis that has ousted two presidents, Gonzalo Sanchez de Losada in September 2003 and Carlos Mesa in June 2005. Massive street protests and road blocking at national level forced the collapse of both administrations with no apparent consensus exit to the current situation.

Peasant and neighbor organizations are again threatening to take to the streets if no solution is reached to elect a new Congress.

"This is disgraceful and it's going to force us to the streets to demand the definitive closure of Congress", warned Abel Mamani, a neighbor groups leader from El Alto, a few miles away from the capital La Paz, and one of the most active and radical areas of the country.

Before the vote was taken caretaker president Eduardo Rodríguez sent his political affairs delegate Jose Lazarte to Congress to inform that Mr. Rodriguez will remain in the post just for six months, until December as mandated by the Constitution, when president and vicepresident elections will be held.

But before that happens President Rodriguez will have to decide whether the August 12 autonomic referendum should go forward.

Bolivia which sits on a bubble of natural gas has been bitterly divided over the extraction of hydrocarbons between the rich provinces that support foreign companies in the oil industry, and the poorer areas which want the industry nationalized or exorbitant taxes and royalties which will force international corporations to leave the country.