(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The majority of people in Colombia would oppose current president Álvaro Uribe running for a second re-election this year, according to a poll by Centro Nacional de Consultoría. 54 per cent of respondents reject a potential third term for Uribe, while 46 per cent support it.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The majority of people in Colombia would oppose current president Álvaro Uribe running for a second re-election this year, according to a poll by Centro Nacional de Consultoría. 54 per cent of respondents reject a potential third term for Uribe, while 46 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. At least 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.
Earlier this month, Constitutional Court judge Humberto Sierra issued a recommendation to declare the referendum proposal as unconstitutional, citing irregularities in the process to bring about the referendum bill. Sierra alleges that the committee that organized the referendum proposal tried to "manoeuvre to mock the law" when they hid the fact that they violated caps on donations.
Sierra’s recommendation is non-binding. The judges still have two months to make their official ruling.
Colombia is scheduled to hold a legislative election on Mar. 14, and a presidential election on May 30.
Polling Data
Do you support the re-election of Álvaro Uribe?
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Yes
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46%
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No
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54%
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Source: Centro Nacional de Consultoría
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,004 Colombian adults in Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Pereira, Pasto, Sincelejo and Cucuta, conducted on Feb. 4, 2010. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
