Stalled Morales Puts Faith in Referendum

Bolivia's president, Evo Morales, is to attempt to revive his faltering efforts to transform South America's poorest country by gambling his presidency in a recall vote.

Morales agreed on Thursday to hold a nationwide recall referendum within three months, in a risky attempt to break the political deadlock over reforms designed to favor Bolivia's impoverished indigenous population.

"If we politicians can't agree, it's best that the population decide our destiny," he said in a nationally televised address.

The measure will also require the vice-president and Bolivia's nine state governors to face the voters, a crucial test for the government and the opposition in a polarized country.

The recall referendum requires the political leaders to win more votes as well as a greater percentage of support than they did in the 2005 general election. Failure to do so will oblige them to run again in a new election.

Morales, the country's first indigenous president, first came to power with 53.7% of the vote, which by Bolivian standards is a huge landslide.

He used the victory to champion the country's long-excluded indigenous majority, based in the western highlands. The former llama herder promoted socialist policies and forged links with Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez.

Opponents based in the relatively prosperous eastern lowlands, however, have managed to put a brake on most of his reforms, claiming that they are divisive and ruinous.

Last Sunday the opposition stronghold of Santa Cruz province voted for autonomy from the central government and another three provinces are due to follow suit next month.

La Paz has declared these moves illegal, but fears that they will further delay its attempt to "refound" the landlocked nation of 11 million people. Morales has sought a meeting with regional governors, but they have declined until their autonomy votes are held.

Opinion polls put Morales's popularity at around 50%, suggesting he has a good chance of winning a referendum and regaining the political initiative. He may also be able to pick off some opposition governors.

The president proposed a referendum last December and won the approval of parliament's lower house. The proposal stalled in the opposition-controlled senate until Thursday, when it was unexpectedly revived and then approved. The opposition appeared to calculate that two years of deadlock had weakened its once-mighty foe.

Morales embraced the challenge and said he would sign the measure the moment it reached his desk. The state governors did not immediately respond, but most had previously said they would also accept the challenge.

A recall referendum in Venezuela in 2004 threatened to unseat Chávez, but the socialist leader went on to win handsomely and emerge more powerful than before.

Chávez has said he would not stand by and watch Bolivian states secede from the center. He did not say specifically what Venezuela would do.