Bolivia on the brink, John Crabtree

Tue, 04 Oct 2005 00:00:00 +0100

Bolivia’s constitutional tribunal has lobbed an unexpected bombshell into the preparations for the 4 December 2005 general elections. On 24 September, it announced that the distribution of seats in congress would have to be changed to allow for demographic shifts, and demanded that the present congress make the necessary changes to the electoral law by 15 October so that the elections can proceed on time. Any delay may mean that the elections will have to be postponed.

The tribunal, which has the final word on matters pertaining to the country’s constitution, was ruling on an appeal from congressmen from the eastern department of Santa Cruz, lodged in July, which demanded that its share of seats in the chamber of deputies should reflect the rapid increase in its voting population. The electoral law is supposed to take into account the results of the 2001 census.

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Bolivia on the brink, John Crabtree