La Paz, Bolivia ? With outgoing President Carlos Mesa warning that Bolivia could be heading into civil war, Senate President Hormando Vaca Diez maneuvered Wednesday to persuade the 157-member Congress to elect him as the country’s next president.

But the leftist Indian and labor union groups that have disrupted this country with increasing force over the past weeks said they would wreak havoc once again to prevent Vaca Diez from assuming power if Congress elects him.

“I don’t think he could last,” said Alvaro Garcia, a leading political analyst. “There would be a lot of opposition and a lot of deaths because Vaca Diez would attempt to govern with a firm hand.”

Congress will meet today in Sucre, the country’s ceremonial capital, after fierce street protests in La Paz have kept legislators from convening here over the past two weeks. The House and Senate members must first decide whether to accept Mesa’s resignation. If they do so, the next person in line would be Vaca Diez.

Striking bus drivers spank a colleague who was caught breaking the strike in El Alto, Bolivia. Protesters who forced President Carlos Mesa to resign took to the streets again Wednesday to denounce a congressional leader poised to replace him and demand early elections .

But miners, teachers, peasants and coca growers have vowed to head to Sucre to oppose Vaca Diez. And Mesa exhorted Vaca Diez to stand aside in a televised speech Tuesday, saying, “In your hand is the ability to show a generous spirit to the country that would make history.”

Mesa and other groups have proposed that Congress select Supreme Court President Eduardo Rodriguez as caretaker president until elections can be held this year, two years ahead of schedule. One poll published Wednesday showed Rodriguez was favored by 55 percent to be Bolivia’s next president, versus only 16 percent for Vaca Diez.