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Mayo 25, 2006
Reelection is not an Official Position
Some of the social movements and other MAS congressmen have publicly come out in favor of changing the Constitution so that a president can be reelected for a consecutive term. However, Vice-President Alvaro Garcia Linera and the offical MAS stance does not support this proposal.
Linera indicated that President Evo Morales is putting the final touches on the MAS proposal that will be presented on August 6, in which reelection is not part of it. Five years is enough for the current government to carry out the structural reforms.
"In the final document, which is being reviewed by the President, the proposal for reelection is not included and this has come out of the debate among the constituent candidates that took place three weeks ago," said Garcia Linera.
Posted by eduardo at Mayo 25, 2006 02:25 PM
Comments
...but it will go through... just as almost everything that MAS presents in the Asamblea Constituyente will go through.
I don't know if you are familiar with the "rodillo parlamentario" technique used in previous administrations were the majority party, by gaining support of a couple opposition representatives could practically veto or pass any legislation they wanted.
Obviously it involved a lot of quid pro quos and it was slow to come about, but that's how stuff got done (for better or worse).
This Asamblea is the exact winner-takes-all one giant [i]rodillo[/i] gets everything done equivalent.
Posted by: Jonathan at Mayo 26, 2006 05:13 PM
Yes, just like Chavez didn't want consecutive terms, or didn't want to be President for Life...these are "unofficial" trial balloons.
Posted by: galloglass at Mayo 27, 2006 02:49 PM
I find it interesting that when talking about constitutional ammendments that allow for reelection, everyone mentions Venezuela and Peru, but not Colombia. In fact, it seems that most people who are against the possibility of reelection in Bolivia are very happy that Uribe won a second term.
Posted by: oso at Mayo 29, 2006 11:33 PM
Oso:
It's not entirely opposition to reelection that bothers some people (such as myself). In principle, reelection provisions are fine. In practice, however, they've tended to be used haphazardly in Latin America. Look at Chavez' recent proposal to stay as president until 2031!
Of course, when people propose reelection, they usually mean their reelection. And when people oppose reelection, they usually mean they don't want the incumbent to have a chance to run again next time. So, yes, it's a political matter.
Posted by: mcentellas at Mayo 30, 2006 04:47 PM