Monday, July 03, 2006

Constituent Assembly

Ten day ago, my computer broke down and I have not blogged since. The computer's still broken and may take up to a month fixing it (as long as my thesis is intact, I'm happy, I must say). I could not cover the final race towards the Constituent Assembly, but here I am reporting the first results.

According to El Deber, the Crescent Moon has voted for autonomy. The crescent is made up of four departments (Pando, Beni, Santa Cruz and Tarija) and is the economic core of the country. As such, this region is far more progressive than the Altiplano in the west.

According to the graph below, the region that most supported the autonomy is Beni. Meanwhile, the vote is still being counted in Pando, but according to Mori agency's surveys, autonomy has won with 54%. There is no doubt about the wishes of the other 3 departments that chose autonomy and people went to celebrate autonomy after learning the results. Although 56% of the population voted against autonomy on a national level, Evo has admitted the autonomy of the four regions and cautiosly said that it will be up for the constituents to decide on this issue.
On the other side of the spectrum, Oruro is the department that feels most strongly against autonomy. The other departments that have voted against autonomy are La Paz, Cochabamba, Chuquisaca and Potosi. Chuquisaca appears to be the most divided department, with 56% voting against and 44% voting for autonomy.


According to Los Tiempos, the change in the way constituyents were elected affected MAS inveersely. With these changes, MAS only got 52,9% of the seats (which is less than what they got in the December elections and the two thirds that Evo was rallying for). The next force in the constituent assembly is Podemos, with 60 constituyents (23,5%), followed by UN (4,3%) and up to 20 groups with 1 to 5 representants (these numbers are based on exit polls and may not reflect the final result).

The important thing is that according to the law passed to call the Cosntituent Assembly (CA), the new constitution can only be approved if two thirds of the assembly approves it (170 members). As a results, groups in the crescent moon region are interpreting the results as a defeat for Evo, with analyst Alcides Pareja bluntly saying that "MAS' orgasm is over".
Other analysts see the results of the election as a cry for the acceptance of diversity and highlight MAS' need for allies and concertation.

La Razon appears more sensationalist and has headers indicating the triumph of MAS and the defeat of autonomies.

Among the blogs, you can find the first results in Jonathan's Business & Politics in Bolivia, as well as Sunday's headings.

Official results will be ready in 25 days. In the meanwhile, you can check the official results in the CNE website.


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5 Comments:

Blogger Briegel Busch said...

Welcome back.

DonĀ“t you think it is astonishing how big the difference is between MAS and the second (PODEMOS) in this election?

I am happy MAS will have to take others into account when discussing the next Conbstitution (it has not achieved two thirds!), but I am still complaining about the lack of real opposition to this government. (PODEMOS and UN are really making a very bad job!)

3:56 PM  
Blogger Alvaro Ruiz-Navajas said...

I know. It seems that both Podemos and UN are afraid of being perceived as not contributing to 'the new Bolivia'. They do not realize that the only way forward is for them to become a real opposition and not let this new Bolivia (Evo's Bolivia) happen.
It is sad to see how nobody learnt anything from Venezuela.
As for the CA, I think that the fact that Evo got less vote than in the December elections is saying something. And, obvioulsy, the fact that he will have to reach consensus is extremely positive.

4:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I feel your pain, body!

I've been having problems with my laptop as well.

I am glad I have an external HD, otherwise, I'd have lost all my data.

Copies, and more copies, that's the way to secure one's data. :-)

11:58 AM  
Blogger A.M. Mora y Leon said...

My computer's broken, too, Alvicho, I know what this is like! One feels dissociated from the entire world! But at least I am reading a lot.

1:57 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mate, let me tell you just one thing: the masses in Bolivia look extremely impoverished already form this side of the world...and for sure they do not have the problem of opening a bank account in dollars..like you and your friends. I am full of tears reading these comments to your posts. What a shame, in a country were poeple do no have access to water and education, not neing able to convert in dollars.

You are just one of those daddy's sons studying in the west and belonging to that class of well-known privileged that are racist towards the MAJORITY that voted for Morales (the indios ones): they certainly cannot afford a PhD in a UK university. Your point of view is the one of the social class you belong to..no probem, just make it clear.

11:20 PM  

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