Evo Morales and his party, the Movement towards Socialism (MAS), have promised to engage in large-scale protests if Congress does not approve a proposed bill that would create a Constituent Assembly, Prensa Latina reports. On February 15, various social and political groups met for a three day Social Summit in the eastern Bolivian city of Santa Cruz to discuss the proposed assembly and new constitution. The bill calls for an assembly of 204 Bolivian citizens, with three members elected from each of the 68 electoral districts. The legislation also seeks to ensure participation from the indigenous population, and would regulate the ratio of men to women so that at least one-third of the assembly would be female. "We are going to assure that the original indigenous peoples participate directly in re-founding Bolivia, as they were not represented when the republic was first formed in 1825," Morales said recently in the Washington Times. Opponents fear that MAS is attempting to amend the current constitution in order to expand the party’s power. If approved, the assembly would be elected in July 2006, and officially convene in August.
