La Paz, April 10 (DPA) Bolivia’s President Evo Morales is on a hunger strike to force the National Congress to pass a law.
The law would provide for new elections in December and allow Morales to bid for a second five-year term in office.

While the left wing Morales commands a majority in the lower house, the opposition has the majority in the Senate and is blocking his proposal.

Morales is demanding new elections Dec 6, and has the backing of union and farmer groups.

In February, Morale’s proposed new constitution gathered more than 60 percent support and opened the way for the Dec 6 vote, but only with approval of congress.

Last month, Morales stirred controversy at a UN drug conference in Vienna, where he demonstratively chewed a coca leaf to underscore his point that the plant should be removed from the international list of narcotic substances.