Sustaining that Bolivia is on a course toward "collective suicide," as a result of continued road blockades and a lack of congressional support for the fuel law, Bolivian president Carlos Mesa presented a proposal to the legislature and the nation to hold presidential elections and a Constitutional Assembly on August 28, 2005.
Nine days after President Mesa offered his resignation to the nation’s congress, the country remained blockaded and divided. In spite of an agreement signed by the traditional parties and Mesa, including the rapid approval of a new fuel bill that contains terms proposed by the administration, congress failed to approve the law. Social sectors demanding 50 percent oil royalties for Bolivia blocked the nation’s highways at over sixty different points. Although Mesa had promised the population that district attorneys would arrest blockaders to allow free transit without violent police or military intervention, the attorney general’s office refused to invoke the directive, stating that carrying out blockades and protests were not grounds for detention. In effect, after threatening to leave office in an attempt to forge consensus in the deeply divided Bolivian congress and society, Mesa felt that all sides in the conflict continued to impede his initiatives.
In a televised message to the nation, Mesa stated that in spite of sixty-eight percent popular support, he felt frustrated that he has been unable to overcome the "mental and physical blockades" that have paralyzed South America’s poorest country. He blamed congress for continuing to negotiate political influences in spite of an agreement to support the administration’s fuel bill. The president blamed MAS party leader Evo Morales for maintaining road blockades. He stated that he had not taken the lives of his fellow citizens and refused to call the police and military out to forcibly remove blockades, although some sectors had attempted to force him to do so.
The bill to move up elections, originally scheduled for August 2007, proposes simultaneous voting for the president, vice president, and members of congress, who would act as delegates at the assembly to reform Bolivia’s constitution. Mesa asked that congress accept this bill, "because if we do no not carry out this type of process, Bolivia will become ungovernable."
For the second time in ten days Carlos Mesa stunned the Bolivian public and left competing political factions scrambling to define their positions. It is unclear whether or not the President’s bill is constitutional or whether it will be approved in Congress. It is clear, though, that the reigning political uncertainty and instability will continue.
Mesa Throws in the Towel (Again) and Calls for Elections
March 15, 2005
Prepared by the Andean Information Network
Sustaining that Bolivia is on a course toward "collective suicide," as a result of continued road blockades and a lack of congressional support for the fuel law, Bolivian president Carlos Mesa presented a proposal to the legislature and the nation to hold presidential elections and a Constitutional Assembly on August 28, 2005.
Nine days after President Mesa offered his resignation to the nation’s congress, the country remained blockaded and divided. In spite of an agreement signed by the traditional parties and Mesa, including the rapid approval of a new fuel bill that contains terms proposed by the administration, congress failed to approve the law. Social sectors demanding 50 percent oil royalties for Bolivia blocked the nation’s highways at over sixty different points. Although Mesa had promised the population that district attorneys would arrest blockaders to allow free transit without violent police or military intervention, the attorney general’s office refused to invoke the directive, stating that carrying out blockades and protests were not grounds for detention. In effect, after threatening to leave office in an attempt to forge consensus in the deeply divided Bolivian congress and society, Mesa felt that all sides in the conflict continued to impede his initiatives.
In a televised message to the nation, Mesa stated that in spite of sixty-eight percent popular support, he felt frustrated that he has been unable to overcome the "mental and physical blockades" that have paralyzed South America’s poorest country. He blamed congress for continuing to negotiate political influences in spite of an agreement to support the administration’s fuel bill. The president blamed MAS party leader Evo Morales for maintaining road blockades. He stated that he had not taken the lives of his fellow citizens and refused to call the police and military out to forcibly remove blockades, although some sectors had attempted to force him to do so.
The bill to move up elections, originally scheduled for August 2007, proposes simultaneous voting for the president, vice president, and members of congress, who would act as delegates at the assembly to reform Bolivia’s constitution. Mesa asked that congress accept this bill, "because if we do no not carry out this type of process, Bolivia will become ungovernable."
For the second time in ten days Carlos Mesa stunned the Bolivian public and left competing political factions scrambling to define their positions. It is unclear whether or not the President’s bill is constitutional or whether it will be approved in Congress. It is clear, though, that the reigning political uncertainty and instability will continue.