Bolivian President Evo Morales leftist party appears to have won a narrow majority in a new assembly picked to rewrite the constitution, BBC Online reports Monday.
Early unofficial results suggested he won 133 out of 255 seats – short of the two-thirds majority needed for full control – but Mr Morales was upbeat.
Meanwhile four of the countrys nine regions seem to have voted strongly in favour of greater autonomy. The president is opposed to the moves to give regions more powers.
Santa Cruz, Tarija, Pando and Beni states are all rich in natural resources. Some of the other regions, such as the Quechua and Aymara states, were expected to reject the proposal.
More than 100 observers from the Organization of American States (OAS) and European Union had been sent to the country and were analysing results from some of the 23,000 voting stations.
President Morales has nationalised the oil and gas industries, begun redistributing land, cut public sector salaries and hopes to promote some legal uses of coca leaves. Coca is the raw material used in producing cocaine, but the leaf also has widespread ceremonial and medical uses in Bolivia.
The assembly will meet in August and spend between six months and one year drawing up a new draft constitution that will then be voted on by the people.
If President Morales party wins a majority, he will continue with the reforms he has been implementing since he took office. They include plans to give a greater voice to the majority indigenous population, tighter state control of the economy and more transparency in what has traditionally been a corrupt political system.
