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Uribe Drops, Remains Strong in Colombia
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The popularity of Colombian president Álvaro Uribe has dropped but remains high, according to a poll by Invamer Gallup published in Semana. 70 per cent of respondents approve of Uribe’s performance, down 12 points since August.
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.
Colombia’s Congress is currently pondering two options to allow Uribe to extend his tenure. One of them entails bypassing a constitutional reform by holding a nationwide referendum on whether the president should stay in office for another four years. The second proposal seeks to enact a constitutional amendment that would allow Uribe to become a candidate in 2014, but not in 2010, when the next election is due. Either option would have to be approved by legislators, and then sanctioned by the Constitutional Court.
Uribe has recently faced social unrest in several towns across the South American country over his order to shut down a series of pyramid schemes that were illegally acting as financial institutions. These "enterprises" still owe money to at least 4 million people who trusted them with their savings upon the promise of returns of up to 500 per cent.
Earlier this month, the president reacted to reports that his two young-adult sons are friends of an important member of the most prominent scheme, DMG Group Holdings, and may have contributed money to the group, saying, "My sons are not corrupt. (...) My sons are not daddy’s boys; my sons are not lazy bums. (...) My sons have chosen to be men of work, honest and serious."
Polling Data
Do you approve or disapprove of Álvaro Uribe’s performance as president?
|
|
Nov. 2008 |
Aug. 2008 |
Mar. 2008 |
|
Approve |
70% |
82% |
84% |
|
Disapprove |
25% |
16% |
13% |
Source: Invamer Gallup / Semana
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 800 Colombian adults in Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Pasto, Neiva and Popayán, conducted on Nov. 26 and Nov. 27, 2008. Margin of error is 3.5 per cent.
