BOLIVIA:Bolivia's congress passed a law yesterday setting the date for a referendum on a controversial new constitution that President Evo Morales says will give more power to the country's long-neglected Indian majority.
The constitution envisions a state based on indigenous values and aims to entrench leftist economic principles. Before taking effect, it must be approved in the January 25th referendum.
The opposition initially rejected the referendum Bill, saying the original draft of the constitution would have given too much power to Mr Morales, Bolivia's first Indian leader and a close ally of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez.
But after an 18-hour debate, right-wing lawmakers voted to pass the law when Mr Morales agreed to limit himself to running for only one more term in office and to revise the draft to meet some of their demands.
"This law and the revised draft of the new constitution are the result of the efforts of the four parties in congress," said vice-president Alvaro Garcia Linera.
The fact that the new constitutional draft is the result of a broad agreement with the opposition suggests it will be ratified by an overwhelming majority of voters, analysts say.
Mr Morales led a march on Monday of more than 100,000 supporters, mostly Indian farmers and miners, to pressure opposition congressmen to endorse the Bill. The constitution, which calls for a general election in December 2009, would let presidents stay in power for two consecutive five-year terms, instead of the current single term. The government had argued Mr Morales should be allowed to run for president twice more, while the opposition wanted to limit him to one more term in office.
Mr Morales's Movement Towards Socialism party and the opposition also agreed to make adjustments to more than 100 items in the constitutional draft, which was approved late last year in an elected assembly boycotted by the opposition. Mr Morales's party agreed that an item limiting land ownership to small properties would not be retroactive, so it should not affect big landowners with close links to the opposition.
A new constitution has long been a demand of the Indian majority who live in the western highlands and identify with Morales, an Aymara Indian who herded llamas as a boy.