BOLIVIA: CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY STALLED.

[The following article by Martin Garat is reprinted with the permission of Noticias Aliadas in Lima, Peru. It appeared in the Nov. 16, 2006, edition of Latinamerica Press.]

Disagreements between ruling party and opposition have brought a constitutional overhaul in Bolivia to a standstill. Little, if any progress has been made in the four months since the 255-member Constituent Assembly (Asamblea Constituyente) began talks to rewrite Bolivia's Constitution (see NotiSur, 2006-08-04). Representatives have until next August to present a proposal, which must then be approved through a nationwide referendum.

Members of the ruling Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) party, which holds 137 seats in the assembly, have butted heads with the party's chief rival, the right-wing Poder Democratico y Social (Podemos) party, since sessions began Aug. 6. Podemos holds 58 seats in the assembly, while the rest of the seats are split among various political parties.

"The delay in the assembly's work is owed to the MAS' failure to fulfill the law," accuses Oscar Urenda Aguilera, a Podemos deputy, referring to the law that establishes that the new constitution must be approved by two-thirds of the assembly. MAS proposed that the new document be approved by a simple majority, or 50% plus one vote, and that only the final text require a two-thirds approval. This scheme would allow MAS to offer a draft without needing approval from the other 15 political parties represented in the assembly.

On Aug. 31, the MAS imposed a simple majority in a tumultuous session that ended the next day with physical and verbal assaults between ruling party and opposition members. The opposition harshly criticized the decision and was backed by members from eastern Bolivia, where the majority of the country's economic power is concentrated and the right wing has greater power than the MAS.

A country divided

Civic leaders in the eastern departments of Beni, Pando, Santa Cruz, and Tarija called for a general strike for Sept. 8 to protest the MAS' control in the assembly. Social organizations in western Bolivia, a MAS stronghold, mobilized in support of the government.

Resolving political conflicts amid popular mobilizations is a relatively new phenomenon, says political analyst Cesar Rojas. "During the 20th century Bolivia lived between the polling stations and rifles, which is to say between democracy and dictatorship. But since 2000, policies are formed between parliament and the streets...

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