Bolivia assembly to vote on new constitution

By Sergio Burgoa

ORURO, Bolivia (Reuters) - The assembly rewriting Bolivia's basic law reconvened on Saturday night to vote article by article on a draft constitution that has caused a deep split and violent protests in the poor Andean country.

Among controversial reforms the assembly could approve this weekend are allowing presidents to serve more than one consecutive five-year term, turning the bicameral legislature into a one-house body and granting Indian communities and provinces more autonomy from the central government.

Of the assembly's 255 delegates, only 153 -- most from the ruling Movement Toward Socialism party -- joined Saturday's session in Oruro two weeks after three people died in violent protests in Sucre, the assembly's original base.

President Evo Morales and his MAS party aim to use the new constitution to empower Bolivia's poor Indian majority after centuries of discrimination. Critics say he is using the assembly to grab more power and make radical reforms.

The assembly's work was so controversial it was stalled for months because of fear of violence against delegates. But two weeks ago, it met under military guard and approved an outline of the constitution in a vote boycotted by the opposition.

That vote sparked the large protests in Sucre and a general strike in six of the country's nine provinces, so the assembly was moved to Oruro, 140 miles south of La Paz.

On Saturday, miners loyal to Morales guarded the university auditorium where the session was being held, exploding small dynamite charges occasionally to intimidate any potential anti-assembly protesters.

"We've got a lot to do, a lot to discuss," peasant leader and assembly President Silvia Lazarte, told reporters in Oruro.