The opposition to Bolivian President Evo Morales, which controls the Andean country's Senate, approved a referendum Thursday on the head of state's mandate that is to be held within 90 days, dpa reported.
The question to be posed to Bolivian voters in the referendum is, "Do you agree with the continuation of the process of change led by President Evo Morales Ayma and Vice President Alvaro Garca Linera?"
If voters do not agree, the president "will immediately call a general election for a new constitutional period, to be held within 90-180 days after the National Electoral Court posts its official count," said the bill approved Thursday.
The results of the national referendum, and a further question enquires as to the revocation of the mandates of the governors of the country's nine provinces.
The senators' decision annoyed Morales' Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), although Morales himself had sent a draft of the revocation proposal to Congress in January, as a means of solving the political crisis in the country amid disputes with several provinces.
The lower house of the Bolivian Congress had passed the proposal on January 15.
After it was approved by the Senate, it was only pending the ratification of Morales himself.
"The law to revoke mandates was made in January, but in a different political setting. Now we require a national dialogue to overcome this conflict," Garcia Linera said following the Senate's decision.
However, opposition senator Roger Pinto stressed that the proposal sprung from Morales himself, and noted that the opposition's decision to deal with it by surprise was a "masterplan."
Bolivia is currently immersed in a serious political crisis. On Sunday, a large majority in the province of Santa Cruz - the richest in the country - approved a proposal for more autonomy in a non- binding referendum.
The move for more autonomy - with three other provinces set to hold similar referendums in the coming weeks - lies in clear opposition to the left-wing Morales' declared efforts towards centralization.
The president's declared goal is to improve the lot of the country's disadvantaged indigenous majority, but that has bitterly clashed with the position of those who seek to protect the status quo.