President Morales agrees to Bolivian recall vote

"If we politicians can't agree, it's best that the population decide our destiny," Morales said in a nationally televised address.

Congress on Thursday passed a bill ordering the recall be held within 90 days. Morales said he will sign the measure.

The bill would require Morales and Bolivia's nine state governors to win both more votes and a greater percentage of support than they did on a 2005 ballot. If they fall short, they will have to run again in a new general election.

Bolivian state governors did not immediately react to the president's announcement, but most have previously said they would participate in such a vote.

Morales first proposed a nationwide recall referendum to shore up support last December amid a fierce political battle over his draft constitution, which would give Bolivia's long-oppressed indigenous population greater power.

The idea seemed to have been forgotten until Thursday, when an opposition-controlled Senate revived it.

Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, would face recall at arguably the most difficult moment of his young presidency, following a key electoral victory for opponents in Santa Cruz, Bolivia's biggest and richest state.

In a May 4 referendum there that Morales deemed illegal, voters overwhelmingly backed a declaration seeking greater autonomy from his leftist government.