The Bolivian Congress voted Thursday to hold a national referendum within 90 days on the rule of President Evo Morales, his vice-president and nine regional governors, the senate said.
The move came just days after voters in the country's richest region, Santa Cruz, gave their backing for more autonomy from Morales' left-wing government in a referendum that posed a serious challenge to his two-year administration.
The president dismissed the vote as illegal, but has invited Santa Cruz's opposition governor and those from other departments seeking autonomy -- Tarija, Beni and Pando -- for talks next week in an effort to resolve their differences.
The national vote of confidence agreed Thursday was originally proposed by Morales, but his government appeared to have been caught off guard and now seems reluctant to organize it.
Presidential spokesman Ivan Canelas questioned why the opposition, who hold a majority in the senate, had supported the move when they earlier opposed it.
"Why now? What is the opposition hoping for? To provoke more uncertainty or instability?" he asked.
The president, who has the power of veto, has ten days to decide what to do.
The terms of Morales and Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera formally end in January 2011, but they could be forced out sooner if more than 53.74 percent of voters -- their margin of support in December 2005 elections -- reject them.
The governors of nine regions, including opposition politicians, will be subject to the same test if the referendum goes ahead.
The opposition is banking on winning the vote of confidence, riding on a tide of support shown in Sunday's referendum in Santa Cruz, where 85 percent of voters backed more autonomy from La Paz.
That vote was held in response to a drive by Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, to give more of the country's wealth and land to his fellow Indians, many of whom live in poverty in the western Andes mountains.
