<p>A deputy speaker of the senate proclaimed herself Bolivia's new interim president Tuesday during a session of Congress that failed to reach a quorum.</p>.<p>Lawmakers had been summoned to formalize Sunday's resignation of Evo Morales and confirm Jeanine Anez, 52, as interim president, to end a power vacuum.</p>.<p>"We want to call new elections as soon as possible," she said in a speech to Congress, with only lawmakers opposed to Morales present. Earlier, in the Senate, she had proclaimed herself president of the upper chamber.</p>.<p>"It's a commitment we have made to the country and of course, we will fulfil it," she said.</p>.<p>Anez, a senator from the northeastern department of Beni, said there was a "need to create a climate of social peace" in the country.</p>.<p>Carlos Mesa, the centrist candidate defeated by Morales in the tainted October 20 presidential elections, tweeted his congratulations after the session.</p>.<p>Powerful opposition figure Luis Fernandez Camacho, a regional leader in the eastern department of Santa Cruz, announced he had lifted strikes and blockades called three weeks ago in protest at Morales' disputed re-election.</p>.<p>Morales, 60, resigned Sunday after weeks of often violent protests following his contested October 20 re-election which monitors from the Organization of American States said was riddled with irregularities.</p>.<p>Anez, second vice-president of the Senate, is constitutionally next-in-line for the presidency after the vice-president and leaders of both houses of Congress resigned along with Morales, leaving a power vacuum in the country.</p>
<p>A deputy speaker of the senate proclaimed herself Bolivia's new interim president Tuesday during a session of Congress that failed to reach a quorum.</p>.<p>Lawmakers had been summoned to formalize Sunday's resignation of Evo Morales and confirm Jeanine Anez, 52, as interim president, to end a power vacuum.</p>.<p>"We want to call new elections as soon as possible," she said in a speech to Congress, with only lawmakers opposed to Morales present. Earlier, in the Senate, she had proclaimed herself president of the upper chamber.</p>.<p>"It's a commitment we have made to the country and of course, we will fulfil it," she said.</p>.<p>Anez, a senator from the northeastern department of Beni, said there was a "need to create a climate of social peace" in the country.</p>.<p>Carlos Mesa, the centrist candidate defeated by Morales in the tainted October 20 presidential elections, tweeted his congratulations after the session.</p>.<p>Powerful opposition figure Luis Fernandez Camacho, a regional leader in the eastern department of Santa Cruz, announced he had lifted strikes and blockades called three weeks ago in protest at Morales' disputed re-election.</p>.<p>Morales, 60, resigned Sunday after weeks of often violent protests following his contested October 20 re-election which monitors from the Organization of American States said was riddled with irregularities.</p>.<p>Anez, second vice-president of the Senate, is constitutionally next-in-line for the presidency after the vice-president and leaders of both houses of Congress resigned along with Morales, leaving a power vacuum in the country.</p>