Article about 2/3 issue and Summit

Here is an article I helped write:

Regional and Partisan Tensions Explode on Eve of Summit

Prepared by the Andean Information Network

December 7, 2006

As Cochabamba prepares for the Second Summit of the Community of South American Nations on December 8 and 9, the debate over the how to draft Bolivia’s new constitution has become increasingly polarized and dramatic.
Whether the assembly will approve the text of the constitution using a
two-thirds or simple majority vote has led to heightened regional and
political tensions and escalating violence from both sides. Protestors have
attacked hunger strikers, human rights workers, television stations and
government officials. The Movement Towards Socialism, the majority party,
wants the Assembly to proceed, while the opposition parties demand that each
article of the new constitution be approved by a two thirds vote.
Ironically, opposition parties and MAS passed the law convoking the Assembly
without clarifying specific voting procedures. This issue has become the
rallying cry for mounting protests, which have their roots in a myriad of
political, regional and economic differences.

The opposition launched hunger strikes, which have swelled to over 1,000
fasters in the last two days, to press MAS into revoking the article
defining voting procedures in the Assembly. With the Summit quickly
approaching the opposition hopes the government will buckle under the threat
of a visible political crisis. The MAS government initially appeared
willing to negotiate because of the summit. They met with opposition
leaders and offered a truce, which was promptly rejected.

In order to peacefully resolve this acute crisis, all sides need to accept
responsibility for the passage of the vague law and refrain from
inflammatory statements and physical attacks. The Morales administration
appears to have overestimated the solidity of its social base and fears that
compromise would be perceived as weakness. The opposition, frustrated with
its loss of power in defunct traditional political parties, and eager to
undermine reform efforts of the new government has resorted to strong-armed
tactics and threats. Both groups justify their positions as a defense of
democracy, yet mutual intransigence has only added fuel to the fire.


Impasse in Constitutional Assembly sparks protests and conflict

MAS and opposition parties have struggled for four months to define voting
procedures in the Constitutional Assembly. The law that set up the
elections for the assembly only specified that, “the text of the new
constitution must be approved by a two thirds vote of the assembly members
present.”[1] The law also stipulates that the assembly members should
define the body’s internal operating rules[2] and should use the guidelines
from the lower house of congress (which are also unclear on constitutional
issues) until they do so. MAS has a fifty-four percent majority in the
Assembly and has forged alliances with some other parties, but still lacks
2/3 of the votes. On November 17, MAS delegates pushed through Article 71
by majority vote. The article states that each item debated can be approved
with a simple majority vote, while the whole document will require 2/3 of
the Assembly’s support.[3] Article 71 allows opposition groups to dispute
three articles for individual 2/3 approval and states that if they cannot be
passed, they will be submitted to the Bolivian public in a referendum. The
text of the article represents a partial compromise, but has been rejected
by opposition members.

Despite the article’s approval, the opposition parties Poder Democrático
Social (Podemos) led by Jorge Quiroga, Movimiento Nacionalista
Revolucionario (MNR), and Unidad Nacional (UN) led by Samuel Doria Medina
all want a 2/3 vote for each individual article, stating that they fear that
MAS will pass everything with their majority leaving out the opposition
voice. Tito Hoz de Vila, a senator from Podemos, dramatically stated “that
the two thirds issue is a question of life or death for us; it is question
of survival for the country.” (Los Tiempos 29/11/06)

Opposition parties voted to pass the law to convene the assembly without
demanding greater specificity on voting procedures in March 2006. Critics
argue that they supported the vague law in order to protest it later,
allowing them to block progress in the Assembly. MAS representatives refuse
to back down from the simple majority ruling, nor compromise beyond the
adopted article. This could result in articles that are ratified
individually by the MAS majority, but a failure to obtain approval for the final
document.

Progress in the Constitutional Assembly is crucial for Bolivia’s future and
the current polarization. If there is no compromise reached, the opposition
parties could pull out of the Assembly altogether or block the new
constitution by preventing a 2/3 approval. Either situation would lead to
the Morales government being labeled undemocratic and make it difficult for
MAS to implement further reforms.


Prefectures meeting

In response to the 2/3, land reform and proposed transparency law issues,
the six prefects (like state governors) from the departments of Santa Cruz,
Beni, Pando, Tarija, Cochabamba and La Paz said they were going to break
ties with the government last week. They held a meeting in Cochabamba with
the Civic Committees to discuss these issues. The prefects were directly
elected for the first time in December 2005 and two-thirds of them represent
the interests of now defunct traditional parties. The Civic Committees are
organizations charged with protecting the interests of their regions’
residents but primarily represent the views of the upper middle class and
private enterprise.

On November 27, four of the prefects from Tarija, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz and
Beni passed a resolution giving the central government 72 hours to yield to
their demands. They called for a 24 hour civil strike on December 1, in
which businesses and institutions would not operate and motorized vehicles
would not circulate. Civic committees generally call for these strikes once
or twice a year. In actuality, only Santa Cruz followed through on the work
stoppage while the strikes in other cities were very weak. The prefects and
civic committees announced that on December 4 all the national civic
leadership would join the hunger strike. Not all of the civic leaders have
complied. They also declared that they have the right to call a departmental
referendum on the new constitution (Deber 21/11/06).

The President and opposition leaders met in Sucre on Sunday to try to reach
a compromise. The meeting resulted in a two day suspension of the
Constituent Assembly beginning on Monday. After the unproductive meeting,
both sides have become more entrenched in their positions. Adding to the
pressure to compromise is MAS’s desire to show presidents and dignitaries a
strong, unified nation during the upcoming Summit of the South American
Community of Nations taking place on December 8-10 in Cochabamba.



Conflict around strikes and Constitutional Assembly escalates

In order to express their disagreement with the simple majority ruling and
the agrarian reform law, many groups have been on hunger strikes. The press
is reporting that over 1,000 people country-wide are participating in hunger
strikes. Strikers include opposition members of congress and other high
profile figures, including Samuel Doria Medina, head of Unidad Nacional (UN)
and owner of the Bolivan Burger King franchise; Ruben Costas, the governor
of Santa Cruz; Ernesto Suárez, governor of Beni; Leopoldo Fernández,
governor of Pando; Mario Cossio, governor of Tarija. The civic movements of
the departments of Santa Cruz, La Paz, Cochabamba, Chuquisaca, Tarija,
Oruro, Beni y Pando passed resolutions to begin hunger strikes and women
from the PODEMOS party began a hunger strike last Wednesday. The former
governor of Santa Cruz, Rolando Aróstegui, and Susana Seleme, the former
private secretary of ex-president Jaime Paz Zamora, also joined the hunger
strike. These two people are currently being investigated by the District
Attorney in connection with the “Narcovínculos” drug trafficking case. (ABI
6/12/06)

MAS and opposition figures launched continual volley of insults, further
exacerbating the conflict. Morales responded to the strikes by saying, “I’m
seeing some people who have stolen a lot of money now in a hunger strike;
some people who have abused human rights in a hunger strike; people who even
negotiated with Barbaschocas, a known drug trafficker, on a hunger strike
against the government.” (ABI 6/12/06) On December 4 a group of people
attempted to break up the hunger strike located at the San Francisco Church
in La Paz. Some of the fasters said that the people were MAS supporters
sent by the government. “They forced their way in, breaking doors and
windows,” said Juan Claudio Lechín, the son of a leader of the 1952
Revolution. “This violence from the government is reminiscent of the black
and white films of Mussolini and Hitler when the organized masses entered to
beat peaceful citizens.” (Tiempos 6/12/06)



Some examples of the escalating conflict:



* Five people entered the Channel 7 government television station in
Santa Cruz, carrying molotov cocktails and gasoline with the intent to set
the building on fire. They were stopped by security guards. The director
of the station has also received death threats.
* MAS and Opposition Senators held two parallel Senate sessions.
* Cattle dealers of Beni and Pando have threatened to stop sending
meat to La Paz.
* Separatist groups in lowland departments have threatened to take
over government institutions and the city’s airport.
* In Santa Cruz and have threatened to take up arms and secede from
the country
* Some MAS supporters invaded the PAT television station in La Paz.
* Opposition supporters sacked the offices of two MAS congresspeople
in Santa Cruz.
* Members of the Santa Cruz Youth League threatened and beat the
president of the Santa Cruz Permanent Human Rights Assembly.
* In the La Paz Yungas, members of a coca growers union detained Jose
Luis Paredes, the La Paz prefect, to attempt to force him to retract his
demands for 2/3 approval of all constitutional articles.
* Santa Cruz University Students temporarily took over the government
tax office.



All participants in the conflict appear to be more interested in digging in
their heels than in compromise and moving forward with the constitution. To
date, no institution or individual has garnered the respect of all sides or
the necessary impartiality to mediate the conflict and propose palatable
solutions. In the past, seemingly irreconcilable differences have been
resolved when tensions reach the breaking point. It remains to be seen
whether this will occur in this case. Opposition groups justify their
actions in the name of Bolivian democracy. Yet, these entrenched stances,
growing regional conflicts, and increased secession threats from eastern
provinces jeopardize not only the successful drafting of a new constitution,
but also the future of regional, racial and political relations in the
nation.



For more information write to kledebur@ain-bolivia.org or consult our
website: www.ain-bolivia.org

_____

[1] Ley especial de Convocatoria a la Asamblea Constituyente.. El Honorable
Congreso de Nacional de Bolivia. 6 March 2006. Article 25,
http://www.cne.org.bo/centro_doc/normas_virtual/acra2006/ley_convocatoria_ac
.pdf,

[2] Ibid. Article 21.

[3] This article was proposed by MAS and received 140 votes in favor, 87
against, 5 abstentions while 8 members of the assembly did not vote. The
alternate PODEMOS proposal received only 88 yes votes.