La Paz, Oct 18: Bolivian President Gonzalo Sanchez De Lozada has signed a letter of resignation and left La Paz, a businessman close to the leader said. Businessman Zvonko Matkovic and a congressional source said yesterday that Sanchez De Lozada had also left a recorded message.
Opposition strike leader and Parliament member Evo Morales said Vice President Carlos Mesa, a well-known journalist and historian, would replace the outgoing President, whose letter of resignation was to be put to a special session of Parliament. However, by nightfall, legislators from around the country attempting reach La Paz found themselves stuck at El Alto, 12 kilometers from the capital, as protesters were still blocking the road.
The special session was repeatedly postponed for lack of the required quorum. Bolivia's Constitution calls for the Vice President to complete the term of a resigning President, but some sectors have asked Mesa to call elections within a few months.
"So long as the new President, Carlos Mesa, backs (the demands made during the demonstrations), the social movements will dictate when his term shall end," Morales said.
"Mesa must convene a constituent assembly, which the Bolivian people have clamored for," Morales said. Bureau Report