JURIST - Paper Chase: Bolivia constitutional assembly approves draft constitution

[JURIST] The Bolivian Constitutional Assembly [official website, in Spanish] approved the text of a new draft constitution for the country Saturday, according to Constitutional Assembly President Silvia Lazarte. Bolivian President Evo Morales [official website, Spanish; BBC profile] has sought a full rewrite of the country's constitution [text as amended] to facilitate widespread social change since his election [JURIST report] as Bolivia's first indigenous president in 2005. The Constitutional Assembly, dominated by members of Morales' Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) [Wikipedia backgrounder], approved the draft text as many members of opposition factions boycotted the vote in protest over moving the assembly's governing body to an army compound on Friday and over the proposed relocation of the nation's capital from La Paz to Sucre [LA Times report]. Reuters cited local radio broadcasts as reporting that one individual was killed and several others sustained injuries in the protests.

Lazarte previously suspended [JURIST report] constitutional reform talks in September after days of violent protests by university students and other opposition members. Reuters has more.

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