The Bolivian Constituent Assembly, convened on August 6, 2006 in Sucre, with the purpose of drafting a new national constitution by December 14, 2007; extended from the original deadline of August 6, 2007. The Assembly approved the new Political Constitution of the State on 9 December 2007. It was put to a national referendum held on 25 January 2009, and went into force on 7 February 2009.
Disputes over the content of this text and procedures of its approval aggravated political conflict in Bolivia, including violent conflicts in Sucre and Cochabamba. Opposition and conservative sectors including the "media luna" denounced the text claiming the procedure of its passage was illegal, passed with a third of constituent delegates absent (from minority conservative parties). Despite inclusive wording of the text, opponents have claimed the new document only represents indigenous peoples, discriminating against mixed (mestizo), white (European) populations.
Prior Constituent Assemblies, or other bodies empowered with rewriting Bolivia's Constitution have taken place on at least 17 occasions since 1826.
Process and structure of deliberations
The Constituent Assembly was authorized by Law 3091, promulgated by President Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé on 6 July 2005, and by the Convocation Law of the Constituent Assembly (Law 3364), approved by Bolivia's National Congress on 6 March 2006. The latter law designated uninominal elections by the 70 districts used by the Chamber of Deputies, and plurinominal elections of five constituents from each department.
Conflicts and controversies
Two-thirds vote
The Convocation Law required a two-thirds vote of the Assembly to approve the new Constitution. Debates over the specific interpretation of this provision occupied the Assembly from November 2006 to 14 February 2007. In drafting the regulations for the Assembly, the MAS proposed a simple majority vote should be required for most matters, with two-thirds required for sensitive matters. An initial regulation was passed on 17 November 2006 requiring a two-thirds majority votes only for the final text of the Constitution, and allowing reconsideration of up to three articles in which at least one-third of the Assembly proposed an alternative text. In mid-December, cabildos held in the media luna departments of Santa Cruz, Tarija, Beni and Pando threatened to refuse to abide by a constitution that was not approved by a two-thirds vote. Cochabamba prefect Manfred Reyes Villa also backed the two-thirds majority position in a pro-autonomy cabildo held on 15 December 2006, further sharpening the divisions that led to the January 2007 violence.
On 24 January 2007 the Bolivian Senate broke a deadlock and elected Jose Villavicencio (the lone Senator of the National Unity Party) as its president by a 15-12 vote, unseating a close ally of Morales. With the loss of control of the Senate, Morales has backed down from his position that a simple majority of assembly members should determine the wording of individual articles in the new Constitution. As a compromise measure, Morales called for any issue that can not be resolved with a two-thirds vote in the Constituent Assembly should be put before the people in a referendum, saying "Let the people decide with their vote, without fear." The head of Podemos, former President Jorge Quiroga, praised Morales' suggestion, saying "It's an important advance. It's a sign of flexibility."
After months of negotiations, on 8 February 2007 MAS announced that with the support of 18 members of the Podemos that they had reached the necessary consensus on the Assembly's voting procedures. The Assembly approved its regulations on 14 February 2007 with an overwhelming vote of 201 constituents (81%). The final rules required an absolute majority for the text overall, and a 2/3 vote in considering individual articles. Failure to achieve two-thirds would result in a Concertation commission to seek a new text; irreconciliable differencecs would be considered by popular referendum.
Capital status of Sucre
Sucre, the seat of the Assembly, was the country's sole capital prior to the 1899 civil war. In 2007, politicians from Sucre sought to re-establish Sucre as the sole capital and transfer all parts of the national government to the city. The Inter-Institutional Committee of the Interests of Chuquisaca was established in March 2007 for this purpose, and a proposal was presented to the Assembly's Regional Encuentro held in Sucre on 19 March.