Bolivia

Voters approve constitutional reforms, exit polls

Article published on the 2009-01-26 Latest update 2009-01-26 09:33 TU

Morales celebrates victory, with Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera (L) and Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca (R)
(Photo: Reuters)

Bolivia’s new constitution was approved by at least 58 per cent on Sunday, according to exit polls conducted by two of the country’s television stations. The charter allows the president to serve two consecutive terms, paving the way for President Evo Morales to run again. He has said he will hold early elections in December.

Sixty per cent of voters approved the new constitution, according to the Unitel television network. The ATB network reported 58 per cent. But the exit polls showed it was defeated in at least four eastern departments that are hotbeds of anti-Morales activity.

Governors in the fertile, oil-rich eastern part of the country worry that the left-wing president is pushing the country towards socialism.

Among the new constitution’s 411 articles is a limit to the size of landholdings, and an affirmation of state control over the country’s natural gas resources.

It includes vaguely worded autonomy provisions for 36 indigenous communities and groups, giving them territory and a right to their own language and their own form of community justice.

The new document also eliminates any mention of the Catholic church, and it creates a new Congress, with seats for the country’s smaller indigenous groups.

It is now up to that new Congress to draft laws and regulations to implement the constitution.