Rodríguez Rearranges Bolivian Congress by Decree

“This isn’t about who wins and who loses, but about the fact that we’re all Bolivians,” said President Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé, among many other things, just moments ago. He also issued Supreme Decree 28429, with which he has guaranteed a new date for elections and, most importantly, reformulated the division of seats in the National Congress (specifically, in the Chamber of Deputies) that was holding up the political process agreed upon by all political forces last July. This resolution may not end the uncertainty or the noise that the Santa Cruz right wing is making, but at least it’s something. Let’s go to the story… At 9:45pm the president appeared on the main stairway of the Palace of Government and headed toward the podium to give his message. There had been negotiations going on during the last two days — especially in Santa Cruz, forced by the Pro-Santa Cruz Civic Committee — but nothing happened; no one gave in and there were no agreements to move the electoral process forward.  

In a nearly twenty-minute speech, Rodríguez Veltzé spoke of his efforts to follow through on his mandate (holding new elections) and the general inability to reach agreements. Fed up, after consulting with the political parties (including the Movement Toward Socialism) he decided to at last put an end to all the foolishness and issue the “imperious” decree.

After finishing reading his message, the Bolivian president let his spokesman take the floor and read the extensive document that he carried. The decree, based on dozens of legal standards, essentially does the following:

1. Redistributes the congressional seats according to the law, giving Santa Cruz three new deputies and one to the department of Cochabamba, taking them away from the La Paz (2), Oruro, and Potosí delegations. All of this follows the population figures provided by the 2001 general census.
2. Calls elections for December 18 of this year.
3. Gives the parties now campaigning 48 hours to modify their lists of candidates.

And so, faced with the “National Congress’ dereliction” of its duties to guarantee Bolivians the right to vote, the president (a lawyer himself, at the end of the day) has kept one last card up his sleeve… and now waits to hand over power this January 23… What we don’t know is whether he will, along the way, bump into the people or regions affected… or if the Santa Cruz “Camba” oligarchy won’t come up with some more rubbish.

Keep paying attention, kind readers; this crisis is not over yet…