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Bolivian President
Wins Right Of Reelection
Via Hunger Strike
La Paz - Bolivian
President Evo Morales will be able to run
for a second presidency in this year's
presidential election as his five-day hunger
strike finally forced lawmakers to approve
an election law on Tuesday.
The law was approved by congress early
Tuesday morning when the ruling party and
opposition reached an agreement, under which
seven seats will be reserved for the
indigenous people in the 130-seat lower
house of the congress and Bolivians living
abroad are allowed to vote for the first
time.
The election law also ensures that Morales
can run for a second term in the Dec. 6
presidential election though he has not
formally announced his candidacy for
reelection.
Morales, 49, started a hunger strike on late
Thursday in the government palace after the
opposition lawmakers rejected the previous
election law which would offer 14 seats in
congress to minority indigenous groups.
Morales, who urged his supporters to seize a
major part of seats in the 27-seat senate,
also accused the opposition-controlled
senate of trying to delay the scheduled
presidential election to gain a political
advantage.
Morales' ruling Movement Toward Socialism
(MAS) party had enough votes to approve the
election law, a follow-up to the new
Constitution overwhelmingly approved in a
referendum in January. But opposition
lawmakers blocked it for nearly a week by
refusing to attend a special bicameral
session and preventing a quorum.
The opposition parties also had used their
majority in the senate to block dozens of
reforms proposed by the government.
In the compromise reached by two parties,
Morales reduced the number of seats in the
congress for minority indigenous people from
14 to 7.
But the election law will grant voting
rights to Bolivians living abroad,
potentially adding about 300,000 new voters.
It has also stipulated holding general
elections on Dec. 6 this year and regional
elections on April 4, 2010.
Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous
president, said "every day the Bolivian
people continue making history" and
expressed his "deep respect and admiration"
for the almost 3,000 worker leaders from
Bolivia, Spain and Argentina who had joined
his hunger strike.
He also thanked people who had supported him
during his five-day hunger strike.
In a recall referendum on Aug. 14, 2008,
Morales won more than two thirds of the
votes. He also won a sweeping victory in the
constitutional referendum in January thanks
to strong support from the indigenous
people, who make up around 60 percent of the
Bolivian population.
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