Bolivian President Proposes Recall Bill

Supporters of Bolivia's President Evo Morales run from tear gas during clashes in Cochabamba, Bolivia, Friday, Jan. 12, 2007. The protestors demanded the resignation of Cochabamba state Gov. Manfred Reyes Villa who call for more local autonomy, a day after violent protests left two dead and at least 130 injured. (AP Photo/Juan Karita) (Juan Karita - AP)

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia -- President Evo Morales proposed on Friday a new law to allow recall votes against elected officials, a move that would give protesters demanding the resignation of an opposition-aligned state governor a way to remove him from office.

But the bill would face a tough passage in Bolivia's conservative-controlled Senate, where lawmakers will likely see the leftist president's proposal as a threat to opposition state governors who have become his most prominent critics.

The proposal came at the end of a week of clashes in the city of Cochabamba, 125 miles southeast of the capital La Paz, where protesters are calling for state governor Manfred Reyes Villa to resign.

The clashes between supporters and opponents of Reyes left two dead and more than 130 wounded on Thursday. But Friday was relatively quiet in the valley city.

Morales introduced his proposal with only passing mention of the situation in Cochabamba, saying the law would allow for the recall of officials from mayors up through the presidency for corruption, human rights violations, or simply failing to fulfill campaign promises.

But he made it clear the bill's goal would be to avoid violence such as the clashes in Cochabamba in the future.

"If the people knew that they could remove an official with their vote, we would avoid this type of confrontation," Morales said. "We will improve the way we solve the confrontation between (an elected official's) legitimacy and legality. We will look for ways to, for example, end the mandate of corrupt mayors, governors who abuse their power or presidents who massacre their own people."

Morales was referring to former president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, who fled Bolivia after his 2003 crackdown on protesters left some 60 people dead. Sanchez de Lozada's successor, Carlos Mesa, also was driven from office by protests in 2005.

In a series of marches over the last month, both city dwellers and coca farmers from the surrounding countryside have marched on Cochabamba to denounce Reyes' support for greater state autonomy from Morales' government.

Reyes says he will not resign and blamed Morales for not reacting more forcefully to protests earlier in the week.

Morales' efforts to expand his executive power have incensed the opposition governors who head six of nine Bolivian states, many of which have long sought greater autonomy from the central government.

The president recently proposed a bill allowing Congress to remove state governors from office for improperly handling government funds _ with his own office holding the final judgment.