Rewriting the Constitution to Reflect the Country's True Colours
Franz Chávez

LA PAZ, Aug 22 (IPS) - A vigorous voice speaking in Quechua is answered by another speaking in Aymara as Bolivia's constituent assembly begins to rewrite the constitution under the government of Evo Morales, the country's first-ever indigenous president.



In the 255-member assembly, which was elected Jul. 2 and began its work last week, the business suits worn by politicians and civic leaders of predominantly European descent are outnumbered by the colourful traditional dress of indigenous assembly members..

The assembly, in which the governing Movement to Socialism (MAS) holds 137 seats, has a year to design a new constitution, with the aim of strengthening the rights of and empowering indigenous people, who make up around 60 percent of Bolivia's population of nine million.

Although the biggest groups are Quechua and Aymara Indians, there are some 36 distinct indigenous communities in South America's most impoverished country, where indigenous people are the poorest of the poor.

Morales, an Aymara Indian who took office in January, frequently points out that indigenous people were excluded from the constituent assembly that wrote the country's first constitution, in 1825, even though they comprised perhaps 90 percent of the population at the time.

Presiding over the predominantly indigenous assembly is Silvia Lazarte, a prominent Quechua campesina leader.

Morales has given the assembly the task of "refounding" Bolivia, "recovering" the country's natural resources for Bolivians, and achieving economic independence. It is an ambitious undertaking that goes beyond mere constitutional reforms, says the president, who is also the leader of the country's coca farmers.

When it comes to approving draft proposals in the assembly, the president and the MAS assembly members decided to push for a majority of 50 percent plus one vote.

In other words, the votes of only 129 of the assembly's 255 members would be needed to pass a proposal -- even less than the 137 seats that the MAS holds in the assembly. The remaining 118 seats are held by other political parties, alliances and civic groups.

That decision drew protests from the opposition, who want proposals to be approved by a special majority of two-thirds of the assembly members (170). This would force the governing party to strike deals and make concessions to other political forces, thus curbing the reach of the transformations sought by the Morales administration.

Five years of unrest and turmoil, during which two presidents were forced to step down by massive protests against the privatisation of the country's water and natural gas and in defence of the territories of indigenous groups, ended in December 2005 with the election of Morales, who took 53.7 percent of the vote.

Since Bolivia's return to democracy in October 1982, a system by which a two-thirds majority was needed to pass legislation in Congress gave rise to a democracy based on political deal-making, which in the opinion of constitutional lawyer José Luis Gutiérrez Sardán became a mechanism for "blocking change, and blackmail."

As in Congress, where votes were routinely traded for public posts or positions of influence, the government would now be forced by the two-thirds rule to offer embassies and public posts in exchange for support for its proposals in the constituent assembly, said Gutiérrez Sardán.

One-third of the seats, which are held by representatives of the opposition -- mainly members of rightwing parties -- amounts to a minority capable of undermining the viability of the assembly and of blocking change, in the analyst's view.

But, he admitted, in a system in which proposals are approved by just 50 percent plus one vote, the assembly members forming a simple majority could make mistakes and could also ignore the demands of minorities.

"To truly ‘refound' the country, consensus and dissent based on democratic principles must be put into practice" -- otherwise, all they would need to do is implement the governing party's policies, Franklin Pareja, the coordinator of graduate studies at the political science department of the public Mayor de San Andrés University, commented to IPS.

"For the sake of democratic health and stability, a two-thirds majority would be a good thing, because minorities have the right to be heard," said Pareja.

Cement industry tycoon Samuel Doria Medina, of the rightwing National Unity party, urged the assembly members to choose a flexible voting system.

He suggested requiring a two-thirds majority for fundamental questions like modifying the rules of the debate, admitting proposals, decisions involving the assembly budget, introducing changes in the assembly leadership, approving the reports submitted by commissions, or deciding when to close the debate on a given issue.

Another of Morales' aims is to give the assembly extraordinary powers, above those of the executive, legislative and judicial branches, in order to allow it to completely overhaul the constitution and "modify the structure of the state," said Gutiérrez Sardán, who argued that if this does not occur, the country will continue to live in conflict.

Once the constituent assembly has approved the draft of a new constitution, voters in Bolivia will again go to the polls in August 2007 to accept or reject the document. (END/2006)