Constituent assembly options
03.31.2005There are now two different proposals before Bolivia's parliament on how to structure a constituent assembly:
By population. Electing 10 lowland & 16 highland indigenous delegates, plus two more from each congressional district, for a total of 180 delegates.
By territory. Electing 10 delegates from each department (regardless of size), plus the 26 indigenous delegates, for a total of 116 delegates.
Guess the departments' "brigades" (regional delegations) prefer which options? Yep. Santa Cruz (w/ support from media luna & other small departments) prefers the by-territory option; La Paz & Cochabamba prefer the by-population option.
The debate is an eternal debate, the question of how to balance large pluralities vs. regional interests. Representation by territory gives strong protections to regions w/ small populations; representation by population gives strong protections to regions w/ large populations. At some point, a compromise will have to be reached, to balance the two views.
If the large departments push too hard for population-based representation, the small departments (some of which, like Tarija, happen to be economically better off) have strong incentives to go it alone. If the small departments push for too great of special protections, then large departments will justifiably feel put upon. Balancing the two demands will be difficult, but it will have to come down to pragmatic compromise. Who needs who more?
All this just as the Easter "truce" between protesters & government ended.
Posted by Miguel at 08:30 PM