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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Bolivia settling electoral impasse? |
| 2009-04-14 |
| [Iran Press TV Latest] Bolivian lawmakers are close to ending a deadlock over a bill expected to provide for President Evo Morales to run for another term in office. Opposition senators who maintain a majority in the Senate are against ratifying a bill that sets a December date for a general election that will allow hunger-striking Morales seek another five year in office. "The most important and sensitive issues in the bill have been resolved, consensus is being reached and we are now making revisions," said Fernando Messmer, a member of a multi-partisan commission negotiating the changes, AFP reported Monday. The opposition has managed to delay ratification of the electoral measure prompting Morales to initiate a hunger strike since Thursday demanding the approval of the bill. Now, on his fifth day of hunger strike, the protesting President is reportedly in healthy conditions. "The president's condition is stable," Health Minister Ramior Tapia told reporters, adding that Morales was undergoing medical checks three times a day. Morales declared that he will continue with his hunger strike until lawmakers approve the controversial bill and set a date for election. Morales' Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party controls the lower house in the natural gas-rich country, but right-wing parties have used their Senate majority to block dozens of government-proposed reforms since Morales took office in 2006. A January vote approved a reformed constitution that gives more power and rights to the country's indigenous majority. It also secures a second term for Morales. As the first indigenous President in the Andean nation, Morales is determined to give a fair share of the countries wealth to the indigenous people of high-lands who form two-thirds of Bolivia's population. He will also give them rights to territory and their own systems of justice. However, opposition leaders of rich provinces, mostly from a European descent, do not want the indigenous to hold a share of power and natural wealth. |
| Posted by:Fred |