(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Almost half of people in Colombia oppose the government calling a referendum on whether the constitution should be modified to allow Álvaro Uribe to run for a third term as president, according to a poll by Datexco published in El Tiempo. 47 per cent of respondents oppose the proposed referendum, whereas 41 per cent support it.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Almost half of people in Colombia oppose the government calling a referendum on whether the constitution should be modified to allow Álvaro Uribe to run for a third term as president, according to a poll by Datexco published in El Tiempo. 47 per cent of respondents oppose the proposed referendum, whereas 41 per cent support it.
Uribe has been Colombia’s president since August 2002. In the May 2006 election, he won a new four-year term with 62.2 per cent of all cast ballots. He was able to run again after pro-Uribe lawmakers in the House of Representatives and the Constitutional Court officially sanctioned a plan to allow immediate presidential re-election. After issuing its ruling, the court warned that the clause was not valid for the unlimited re-election of the head of state. Uribe would require a new constitutional amendment to run again.
Uribe has been commended for improving the economy and for his security policies, especially his hard stand against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a radical left-wing armed group. However, his administration is currently under great strain. Seventy-one lawmakers—85 per cent of whom are Uribe supporters—are being investigated for alleged ties with right-wing, illegal paramilitary armies; 31 of them are either detained or already serving time in jail. The accusations range from receiving the backing of war lords for electoral benefits, to directly participating in select killings and massacres for political or economic purposes. Uribe’s first cousin and close political ally, Mario Uribe, is one of the lawmakers tied to the scandal.
A group of Uribe supporters has gathered enough signatures to call a nationwide referendum on whether the current president should be allowed to run for re-election again this year. In September 2009, Congress approved the referendum bill in a late-night vote boycotted by members of the opposition. The Constitutional Court is currently studying the validity of the referendum.
The president himself has not clearly stated whether he wants to run for office again, but he actively pushed allied lawmakers and his own cabinet ministers to pass the referendum bill in Congress.
Last month, Jaime Dussan—a member of the opposition Democratic Pole (PD)—called for all parties interested in stopping the president from running again in this year’s ballot to sign a joint letter requesting the Constitutional Court to prevent it. Dussan declared: "Let’s make a public pronouncement, signing a statement and asking all the political and social chiefs that we send it to the court and we tell the country that we are opposed to that re-election."
Colombia is scheduled to hold a legislative election on Mar. 14, and a presidential election on May 30.
Polling Data
Do you support or oppose holding a referendum to modify the constitution and allow Álvaro Uribe to run for president again?
|
Support |
41% |
|
Oppose |
47% |
|
Not sure |
12% |
Source: Datexco / El Tiempo
Methodology: Interviews with 1,200 Colombian adults in 13 cities, conducted on Jan. 28, 2010. Margin of error is 3.7 per cent.
