Bolivian lawmakers to vote for president
Bolivian lawmakers meet on Thursday to consider the resignation of President Carlos Mesa. They must decide who will succeed him after weeks of protests in the capital and a growing clamor for early elections.

Mesa has asked the United Nations, Argentina and Brazil to send observers to oversee the process.

The divided Congress is likely to accept Mesa's resignation but many Bolivians are uneasy about who lawmakers will choose to lead South America's poorest nation.

The constitution calls for Congress President Hormando Vaca Diez to assume the presidency. The lower chamber chief and Supreme Court president are next in line should he decline.

However, many Bolivians especially the Indian community see Vaca Diez as unacceptable and are demanding early elections.

The mayors of La Paz and other cities went on a hunger strike late Wednesday to demonstrate against Vaca Diez.

This follows a three-week blockade by the Indian majority who want the government to nationalize energy reserves and call a special assembly to grant them more power.

The unrest has caused severe fuel and food shortages in La Paz, the worst crisis since Mesa came to power in 2003.

Miners and rural peasants are planning to take the protest to southern city of Sucre, where the Congress session will be held.