[R-G] Morales victory seen in Bolivian recall referendum

[Anthony Fenton]

Morales victory seen in Bolivian recall referendum

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hixNmT5oMuJeaEbe5pNfw0fOeSwg

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AFP) — Bolivian President Evo Morales easily survived  
a recall referendum Sunday, according to exit polls, but his use of  
the vote to weaken a coalition of political enemies was seen as  
falling short.

Morales, a former coca farmer who became Bolivia's first indigenous  
leader in 2006, appeared to have won 60 percent of valid ballots, the  
exit polls by the ATB commercial television station and the firm  
Captura Consulting said.

The projection, which had yet to be confirmed by official results, was  
in line with pre-poll surveys.

Of the eight state governors whose jobs were also on the line in the  
plebiscite, three of them were seen to have been ousted -- two of them  
Morales critics, and one of them a Morales ally.

The sole other presidential ally won overwhelming support in his state  
-- but so did four opposition governors in wealthier states to the  
east that have been spearheading the challenge to the president by  
pushing for autonomy.

Analysts said Morales would now probably say he had the upper hand  
over the opposition, and he would organize another national vote to  
have his reforms ratified.

Chief among those is a proposed constitution giving more land and  
revenues to the downtrodden indigenous folk who make up 60 percent of  
the population of 10 million.

The result seen in the exit polls "means that his support nationwide  
is significantly stronger now than it was in December 2005 when he was  
first elected (with 54% of the vote)," a US political analyst living  
in Bolivia, Jim Shultz said.

The eastern governors, noting that triumph alongside their own  
landslide support, "will either talk more in the language of de facto  
secession or start to negotiate," he added on the website of the  
Democracy Center he runs in the central city of Cochabamba.

"My big dream is to have unity among the Bolivian people," Morales  
said as he cast his ballot in Villa 14 de Septiembre, a town in the  
central Chapare state that is a bastion of support for him.

But that ambition looked difficult to achieve, the referendum  
notwithstanding.

Morales has already called the autonomy moves this year by the  
governors of the eastern states of Santa Cruz, Pando, Beni and Tarija  
"illegal." Demonstrators have responded by making those regions no-go  
areas for the president.

The crisis has deeply divided the country along ethnic, political and  
regional lines.

In Cochabamba, there were fears it might even turn explosive in the  
wake of the referendum.

The governor there, Manfred Reyes, has said he will ignore a result  
ousting him. The ATB poll suggested 57 percent of the ballots went  
against him.

The National Electoral Court ruled last week that a governor could be  
toppled if the proportion of "no" votes against him topped 50 percent.