Americas News
Bolivia to hold early elections in 2008, Morales says (Roundup)
By DPA
Mar 17, 2007, 1:31 GMT

La Paz - Bolivian President Evo Morales on Friday said the Andean country will likely hold early elections in 2008 after a Constituent Assembly charged with rewriting the constitution has finished its work.

'I have a short time left in government, which we must use to serve the people' Morales, who became president in January 2006, said at a rally in the eastern Bolivian town of Warnes 800 kilometres east of the capital.

Morales, whose current term ends in 2011, did not say if he would run again for president, but it appeared a strong probability given his popularity and plans for far-reaching government reforms.

Morales ran on promises to correct the long-standing injustices against the country's Indio majority.

The leftist populist president said municipal and provincial elections would also be held.

The Constituent Assembly is set to be in session until August in Sucre, Bolivia's administrative capital. The new constitution will also be put to a referendum, setting the stage for new elections..

Evo Morales was elected in December 2005, becoming the first Bolivian president of indigenous descent. He was inaugurated on January 22, 2006 for a five-year mandate set to conclude in January 2011.