BOLIVIA: A first for Morales
In October President Evo Morales received his first electoral defeat since taking office for the first time in January 2006. The national election to pick 56 judicial officials for Bolivia´s top courts took place amid a major political crisis for Morales, caused by the proposal to build a road through an indigenous territory and national park [RA-11-10]. Calls by the parliamentary opposition for the electorate to spoil their votes or leave them blank in protest, met with success. The result would appear to have had an impact: the road has now been definitively scrapped (see page 5). Yet the vote also raises questions about the limits of popular democracy and the value of putting such technical issues to the public vote.
End of preview - This article contains approximately 928 words