Morales Wins Referendum, Faces Long Fight

Passed with about 60 percent support in a referendum on Sunday, the constitution aims to give Bolivia`s indigenous majority more power.

Bolivian President Evo Morales claimed victory as voters approved his leftist constitution, but opposition leaders may try to its implementation as they prepare to challenge him in December elections.

Passed with about 60 percent support in a referendum on Sunday, the constitution aims to give Bolivia's indigenous majority more power, lets Morales run for re-election and hands him tighter control over the economy.

Morales took office three years ago and is popular among the poor and Aymara, Quechua, and Guarani indigenous groups that have suffered centuries of discrimination in South America's poorest country.

An Aymara Indian and former leader of coca-leaf farmers, Morales is Bolivia's first indigenous president and followed his socialist allies, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and President Rafael Correa of Ecuador, in pushing through new constitutions.

Though the new charter was popular in the Andean highlands, it failed in four of Bolivia's nine provinces as voters in wealthier eastern lowlands rejected it, exit polls said.

"What has been ratified is polarization at the national level," said Carlos Hugo Laruta, a columnist for the La Prensa newspaper. "So both sides must redesign their positions on implementing the constitution and December elections."

Morales has said Bolivia will need to pass about 100 laws to implement most of the reforms laid out in the constitution, including the rules for the election of Supreme Court judges in a popular vote.

To do so, he can work with the opposition, which currently has an edge in the Senate, or risk angering it by bypassing Congress and implementing the charter via decrees.

Opposition leaders in eastern provinces, where a European-descended or mixed-race elite dominates the economy, want more autonomy from the central government.

Between 55 percent and 60 percent of the population is indigenous in the landlocked country of about 9.2 million, where politics run along lines of race and region.

ELECTION

While implementing the charter, Morales will also mount a run for a five-year term in December to carry out his socialist agenda. For now, he is the favorite to win as conservatives lack a strong candidate and are internally divided.

But Morales' popularity could suffer if sales and prices for Bolivia's natural gas exports -- its main source of revenue -- drop on the global economic crisis. Its biggest buyer, Brazil, has already trimmed purchases.

The opposition says it is gaining ground on Morales. The 60 percent "yes" vote on Sunday was lower than the 67 percent Morales nabbed in a recall election last year.

His critics seized on that lower margin of victory to say they would try to block reforms called for in the new constitution or force Morales to make concessions.

"The 'no' vote has put the brakes on the fools who wanted to destroy our country," opposition leader Ruben Costas said.

Violent opposition protests in September killed about 20 people and forced Morales to water down some of the constitutional changes, including radical land reform and his original plan to seek two extra terms in office.

While voting on the charter, Bolivians approved a cap of 12,355 acres (5,000 hectares) on the size of future large landholdings, but existing ranches will not be impacted.

The charter will eventually give the Indian majority more seats in Congress and more clout in the justice system. It also officially recognizes their pre-Columbian religions and promotes their languages.

"The new constitution will ensure equality for all Bolivians," said Teresa Penaranda, 49, holding a colorful Aymara flag after voting in the city of Cochabamba.