The National Coordinator for Change (Spanish; Castilian: Coordinadora Nacional por el Cambio; CONALCAM) is a Bolivian political coordination of social movements aligned with the governing Movement for Socialism-Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (MAS-IPSP).[1] It was founded on 22 January 2007, during the Constituent Assembly of 2006-2007.[2] [3] CONALCAM mobilizes its member organizations in support of the "process of change" which includes the drafting and implementing of a new Constitution as well as a variety of social reforms.
According to the organization's statute in September 2010, CONALCAM is made up of the following parts: the President and Vice President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, social movement organizations, the national leadership of MAS-IPSP, and the parliamentary brigade of MAS-IPSP members in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly.[4]
CONALCAM is governed by a National Leadership (Spanish; Castilian: Dirección Nacional), elected once every two years with the following seven offices: President; General Secretary; Secretaries of Political Affairs, Organic (i.e., Internal) Affairs, International Affairs, and of Resolutions; and a Spokesperson.
In 2010, the organization moved to increase its local and regional activities and incorporated into its statute Departmental and Regional organizations: CODECAMs and CORECAMs.
As of September 2010, there are twenty national social movement organizations affiliated with CONALCAM, including the Constituent Assembly. Among these organizations are:
Conalcam also includes mining cooperatives, leftwing parties, vendors' guilds, neighbourhood associations, associations of small business enterprises, youth organizations and popular civic committees.[1]
CONALCAM was the key mobilizing organization for supporters of the MAS and the draft constitution during the 2008 unrest in Bolivia. In October 2008, it organized a march from Caracollo to La Paz to pressure the National Congress to authorize a referendum on the new constitution, which the Congress did on October 21, as tens of thousands of protesters flooded central La Paz.