BOLIVIAN CONGRESS TO DECIDE TIGHT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

LA PAZ, Bolivia, July 1 - Bolivian voters, frustrated with economic
turbulence and grinding poverty, supported an unusually diverse array of
politicians in presidential balloting on Sunday, shaking up traditional
politics in the country's most important election in 20 years of democracy.

Exit surveys early today gave Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, a former president
and pro-market reformer, a razor-thin edge over Manfred Reyes Villa, a
populist former mayor of the country's third-largest city, Cochabamba.

But voters also gave unexpected support to the leftist leader of the coca
farmers, Evo Morales, who favors nationalizing private companies and often
criticizes the United States government for its involvement in Bolivian
affairs.

None of the 11 presidential candidates came close to the majority of more
than 50 percent needed to win outright. Mr. Sanchez received 22 percent of
the vote, according to the exit polls, and Mr. Reyes received 21 percent.

As a result, the senators and representatives elected on Sunday will choose
a president from the two front-runners. The official vote count is expected
to continue for some days, and the decision-making process in Congress
could last through July. The winner is to be inaugurated on Aug. 6.

Other longtime players in Bolivian politics, like the governing Nationalist
Democratic Action party and the left-leaning Condepa party, fared poorly.
"This signifies a big change in the party system," said Carlos Toranzo, a
leading analyst here. "What we have is a new map of Bolivia's political
parties."

The presidential contest now depends on bargaining among the strongest
parties in Congress, a process that favors Mr. Sanchez de Lozada, since his
National Revolutionary Movement won at least 11 of the 27 seats in the
Senate and one-third of the seats in the 130-member lower house.

Whoever becomes president, analysts say, must put together a coalition
representative of this multicultural country, where 50 percent of the 8.3
million people speak an indigenous tongue.

"If this new government is not going to be able to be more inclusive, then
there's going to be a lot more turbulence," warned Elizabeth Spehar, who is
overseeing an electoral observer mission for the Organization of American
States.

Bolivia has been hit hard by a three-year recession and growing social
unrest. Many people say the country's 17-year experiment with pro-market
reforms, including privatizing government agencies and opening the economy
to foreign investment, have done little for most people.

Coca farmers, often led by Mr. Morales, have protested forcefully against
Washington-led efforts to eradicate coca plantations.

Both Mr. Sanchez de Lozada, who was president from 1993 to 1997, and Mr.
Reyes Villa, a former army captain, have expressed a willingness to work
with other parties. But it remains doubtful that Mr. Morales will support
either man.

Mr. Morales, who was expelled from Congress last year after he was accused
of instigating violence among coca farmers, has called the traditional
parties and their leaders corrupt. The platform of his party, the Movement
Toward Socialism, is far different from their programs, arguing for the end
of coca eradication efforts and market reforms.

"The other parties need not waste their time talking to us about an
alliance," Mr. Morales said. "We will not negotiate our vote with the
thieves and the corrupt ones."

That presents problems for any future president, because his party took 6
seats in the Senate and 25 in the lower house.

Analysts say Mr. Morales benefited from a speech on Wednesday by the United
States ambassador, Manuel Rocha, who told Bolivians that voting for Mr.
Morales could jeopardize aid from Washington and access to American
markets. The comments infuriated many here.

Mr. Morales is not seen by political observers as a one-issue phenomenon.
He has the support of intellectuals, many union workers and others who
reject the market reforms.

"What you have here is something very strong and new that has to do with
everything that is happening in Latin America," Mr. Toranzo said.