A new constitution brings out the deepest divisions in the Andean nation.

Gabriela Perdomo - Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president, called it an opportunity to "re-found" the nation. With the final draft now ready, Bolivia’s constitution looks more likely to split the nation in two.

The governing leftist Movement to Socialism (MAS) is adamant in passing the new charter. The conservative opposition, led by powerful regional leaders, is fiercely against it. We Can (Podemos), the main opposition party, boycotted the approval of the final draft by the Constituent Assembly in December, allowing MAS and ally parties to pass it.

The new document acknowledges Bolivia as a "unitary but plurinational state", a shift from the recognition of Bolivia’s "multi-ethnicity" embedded in the previous constitution. Morales had promised to identify Bolivia—where 60 per cent of the population is of direct indigenous descent—as a sum of "nations": a way to offer autonomy and recognition to indigenous groups.

The article has direct implications in the state’s relationship to such groups, because it grants them authority to manage, among other things, natural resources and education. Also seeking to recognize the participation of indigenous communities in the overall state, the new charter will give the indigenous systems of justice the same official status as the existing system. The constitutional tribunal will have the same number of indigenous and non-indigenous members. Judges will be elected, not appointed by Congress as at present.

The notion of state ownership over natural resources became a key component in the new body of law, as MAS had also promised. The principle will apply to oil and gas extraction as well as mining, reversing privatization of national resources introduced by previous governments. Bolivia would also become a "mixed economy", meaning ownership would be partly private, partly public and partly communal. If accepted in a national referendum, ownership of land would be limited to 10,000 hectares. This would directly affect the lowland departments of Santa Cruz, Beni and Pando—the richest in Bolivia and currently led by opposition politicians.

Departmental, municipal and regional autonomies will be granted more power in order to foster decentralization. Other controversial articles include increasing the number of senators and reducing the number of representatives in the lower chamber of Congress (the opposition currently holds a majority in the upper house), and a clause allowing for one presidential and vice-presidential immediate re-election. Morales’s first term will be conveniently ignored, allowing him to run twice more.

Bolivians are now bracing for a series of votes. The first one is scheduled in Santa Cruz, the richest department in Bolivia and the opposition’s stronghold. Santa Cruz governor Rubén Costas has called a referendum for May 4 to ask his constituents whether they want more autonomy from the central government than is granted in the constitutional draft. The direct defiance to the government, and to a ruling by the Electoral Court banning the ballot, has resulted in a major political crisis. General Luis Trigo Antelo, the Bolivian Armed Forces’ commander in chief, has warned Santa Cruz and other departments seeking to call similar referendums on autonomy that the army will "not allow separatism."

The Morales government has said a referendum on land-ownership reform will have to take place before the vote on whether to adopt the new constitution. Bolivians must decide if they want to allow a cap in the number of hectares a private owner can have. The sensitive issue of agrarian reform will further exacerbate divisions between the eastern, rich departments represented by the opposition, and the poor, heavily indigenous highlands represented by the government. If the proposal is accepted, it will become a part of the new constitution. Then the full constitutional draft will be put to a national vote, followed by a general election if ratified.

Despite the continuous turmoil that the new constitution has brought, Bolivia has managed to remain a united country so far. Morales remains popular, and his government should have enough power to push for a positive outcome in the upcoming votes. But the fragile stability could break in the following months, as the stand-off between the rich and poor departments heightens the possibility of military action.

For now, the future of Bolivia lies in the ballot boxes, which can only be seen as positive. For better or worse, Bolivians are finally confronting the demons that have haunted them for centuries as they are forced to decide which way to go—and if they want to do so as one nation. If they manage to adopt a new charter by the end of this year, the two sides of Bolivians fighting this battle might well realize they need each other to survive.

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