(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Colombian president Álvaro Uribe remains extremely popular, according to a poll by Gallup. 82 per cent of respondents in four cities approve of Uribe’s performance, down two points since March.

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. More than 70 lawmakers—the vast majority of whom are Uribe supporters—are being investigated for alleged ties with right-wing, illegal paramilitary armies; 31 of them are 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 currently under investigation, as well as Colombian senator Carlos García—leader of the pro-Uribe Party of the U and a vocal advocate for Uribe’s re-election.

Uribe has been coy in addressing rumours that he will seek a new constitutional amendment that would allow him to stand for a third term in office. On Sept. 4, the president suggested that current Colombian ambassador to Britain Noemí Sanín would be a good candidate to succeed him in 2010, adding that, by that date, he would like to be "playing with his grandkids and relaxing."

Polling Data

Do you approve or disapprove of Álvaro Uribe’s performance as president?

Source: Gallup
Methodology: Telephone interviews to 1,000 Colombian adults in the cities of Bogotá, Medellin, Cali and Barranquilla, conducted from Aug. 26 to Aug. 28, 2008. Margin of error is 5 per cent.

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