La Paz, Bolivia ? Bolivian lawmakers on Tuesday rejected a resignation offer by President Carlos Mesa, granting critical support to his embattled government after days of escalating street protests prompted him to submit an offer to step down.

In a unanimous vote, congressmen threw their support behind the president, a day after he tendered his resignation, saying the country was becoming ungovernable amid street protests over his political and economic policies.

Thousands of Mesa’s supporters thronged outside Congress in downtown La Paz, many waving Bolivian flags, cheering the late-night vote on Mesa’s bold gamble that Congress would reject his resignation offer and grant him new political support.

Last-minute wrangling between lawmakers and Mesa delayed a formal vote for hours after the Bolivian leader sought concessions to stay in office, including a halt to street protests by indigenous groups that have paralyzed the country in recent days.

Earlier Tuesday, several leaders representing opposition parties had signaled their support for his presidency.

The showdown marked the latest political drama for Mesa, who has kept a shaky hold on power since taking office in October 2003 after street riots killed 58 people. His predecessor, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, was forced to resign amid widespread public anger over a plan to export the country’s natural gas reserves.

Analysts said Mesa’s resignation offer appeared to be a gamble to force critics to rally around his presidency. Mesa is an independent with no political party affiliation, although he enjoys wide popular support.

Mesa briefly left his presidential offices earlier Tuesday to greet supporters, hugging Indian women in bowler hats and brightly colored full-length skirts who had joined the rally in downtown La Paz.

Jaime Paz Zamora, a former president and current congressman who leads the Leftist Revolutionary Movement party, said he had urged fellow lawmakers not to accept Mesa’s resignation and thus avert an institutional crisis.

Bolivian President Carlos Mesa, center, surrounded by a group of his ministers, waves to supporters before he enters the Congress building in downtown La Paz, Bolivia, on Tuesday.

“Go back to your office and get back to work,” Paz Zamora declared in a public message to the president.

Since coming to power, Mesa has been plagued by relentless street protests, including calls for greater autonomy by Santa Cruz, Bolivia’s wealthiest province, demands to lower fuel prices and raise taxes levied on foreign oil companies from 15 percent to 50 percent of their sales.

On the street, recent protests appeared to have given way, at least partially, to shows of support for the president.

“We believe he’s doing a good job,” said Antonia de Guiterrez, 27, who marched with several dozen women Tuesday. “Bolivia is being torn in different directions, but he’s holding it together.”