Morales to stand for election in recall vote

La Paz: President Evo Morales has agreed to stand for election in a nationwide recall vote, gambling that Bolivians will re-elect him after just two years in office and shore up support for his pending reforms.

Morales first proposed a nationwide recall referendum last December amid a fierce political battle over his draft constitution, which would give Bolivia's long-oppressed indigenous population greater power.

The idea seemed to have been forgotten until Thursday, when an opposition-controlled Senate passed a Bill ordering a referendum be held within 90 days. Morales pledged to sign the measure.

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

The measure would require Morales and Bolivia's nine state governors to win both more votes and a greater percentage of support than they did on a 2005 ballot. If they fall short, they will have to run again in a new general election.

Bolivian state governors did not immediately react to the president's announcement, but most have previously said they would participate in such a vote.

Difficult phase

Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, would face recall at arguably the most difficult moment of his young presidency, following a key electoral victory for opponents in Santa Cruz, Bolivia's biggest and richest state.

In a May 4 referendum there that Morales deemed illegal, voters overwhelmingly backed a declaration seeking greater autonomy from his leftist government.

Morales won the presidency with 53.7 per cent of the vote in December 2005.