Bolivian President Evo Morales went on a hunger strike today to demand Congress pass an electoral law that could make it easier for him to win control of the legislature in December's general election.
Tensions flared last week when members of the ruling Movement Toward Socialism, or MAS, party clashed with the opposition over the bill, which could help the leftist president by assigning more seats to poorer, rural areas.
Mr Morales' allies control the lower house, but the opposition holds a majority in the Senate, allowing his opponents to block the election reform proposal in the Andean country.
"Faced with the negligence of a bunch of neoliberal lawmakers, we have no choice but to take this step (hunger strike) ... they don't want to pass a law that guarantees the implementation of the constitution," Mr Morales told reporters at the presidential palace in La Paz.
A new constitution designed to give more power and rights to the country's indigenous majority was approved by more than 60 per cent of voters in late January.
Mr Morales is Bolivia's first indigenous president.
The constitution calls for Congress to approve an electoral law ratifying December 6th as the date for a general election.
The opposition has rejected the bill because it gives 14 seats to minority indigenous groups which, they say, amounts to handing them to Mr Morales, since he champions indigenous rights.
Mr Morales' opponents also want a new electoral register ahead of the election, saying the current census is not reliable.
Bolivia's National Electoral Court has said it would take at least nine months to create a new register, which would imply the deferral of December's vote.
Bolivia, the poorest country in South America, has been racked by decades of political upheaval. The opposition is split ahead of December's vote, when Mr Morales will stand for re-election and 166 lawmakers will be chosen.
Leading opposition party Podemos has yet to announce a presidential candidate. Several low-profile right-wing and center-left politicians plan to run against Mr Morales.
Reuters