On March 27th, 1995, tired of the governments' constant betrayals and the continuous injustice, the united organisations of farmers, colonizers and indigenous people founded the Assembly for the Sovereignty of the Common People (ASP) and the Political Tool for the Sovereignty of the Common People (IPSP), not only in order to take power locally, but also with the aim of taking power nationally.

Evo, member of the National Congress

The denial of the National Electoral Court and the political community to grant them their own own acronym and legal entity led the ASP-IPSP to seek a solution to the impasse. It was agreed they could participate in elections as candidates for the United Left (IU), a coalition of leftist parties that was headed by the Communist Party of Bolivia (PCB). In the first electoral test, the municipal elections of December 3rd, 1995, the IU captured 10 mayoralties and 49 town councillorships, all in the department of Cochabamba.

In the national elections of June 1st, 1997, the IU won 4 seats in parliament, out of 130. Morales, reaching the first milestone of his brilliant political carreer, was one of the IU candidates who took a seat, for the riding that included the provinces of Chapare and Carrasco. He did it with an overwhelming 70% of the votes, the highest percentage obtained by any of the 68 candidates elected through the country’s simple majority system. “In 1997, although it’s difficult to believe, I ended up being the member of parliament  who got the most votes in Bolivia. At last I was an MP! A dream I had persued for a long time, but, at the same time, a social and political commitment with a huge responsibility.”

Since he wanted to participate in the local elections of December 5th, 1999, Morales came to a paradoxical agreement with the leader of MAS-U, David Añez Pedraza, a powerful businessman and former member of the military who in the past had been known for his staunch opposition to indigenous movements. They agreed that in the future, the IPSP would take on the MAS acronym. Sealing the agreement, the IPSP-MAS started off in January 1999, with Morales as  president. As thanks for this absorbtion that included the adquisition of the name and the colors of the MAS-U, a moribund party, Añez was made honorary ‘president for life’ of the IPSP-MAS, which soon was called simply Movement Towards Socialism (MAS).

In the municipal elections of December 1999, the MAS, with 3.2% of the votes in the whole country, behind eight other parties, was confirmed for the moment as a small, purely regional organisation, its roots limited to the departments of Cochabamba and La Paz (especially in the area of the Yungas, amply populated by coca farmers). 58 of the 79 MAS candidates who won city councillorships across the country were elected in these 2 departments.

While Evo strengthened his political base, the ADN government, led by Banzer and then Quiroga, broadened their erradication campaign, as laid out in the Dignity Plan, which had begun in April 1988 under the supervision of the U.S. This plan instituted a real state of seige in the Chapare, in a clear process of militarization of the region. Hundreds of police and military officers violently invaded the lands of the Chapare, committing an innumerable amount of abuses and assassinations which violated the most basic human rights and liberties.

From his seat in the Parliament, Morales denounced the “militarization” of the conflict and the “massacre” perptrated in the Chapare. In addition, he appealed for the right of the peasants to resist “militarily” the troops who defended the erradication of the coca bushes and who didn’t hesitate to shoot at protesters. This earned him a severe warning from the highest authorities.

The threat materialized January 24, 2002. With the tacit approval of the president at that time, Jorge Fernando Quiroga Ramírez, a majority made up of 104 representatives of the ADN, the MNR, the MIR, the UCS (Civic Solidarity Union) and the NFR (New Republican Force) decided to relieve the MAS leader of his seat.
The Parliamentary Ethics Commission found indications the Aymaran member of parliament had committed “serious inadequacies in the execution of his duties” and, in record time, ousted him.

Morales, far from being quieted or neutralized politically, acquired a halo. He became the representative of the people injustly persecuted and saw his popularity flourish. On the 5th of March, 2002, Morales submitted an objection before the Constitutional Tribune for violating his right to defend himself, to the presumption of innocence, and to parliamentary immunity. That same day, he resigned from the Confederation of Coca Producers of Cochabamba and was endorsed by the representatives of the Six Federations of the Tropics as the MAS presidential candidate for the presidential elections of the 30th of July. The crowd that gathered in La Paz cheered Morales with chants of “Kausachum coca!” (Long live coca!) and “Huaiñuchum yanquis!” (Down with Yankees!), and hoisted the wipala, the multi-colored checkered flag that is the emblem of the Andean cultures, along with the standard tri-colored Bolivian flag.