Conservatives maintain leadership in Colombian congress

WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A - In a strong show of support from Colombians to outgoing President Álvaro Uribe, his party, "Partido de la U," received the most votes in Colombia's legislative elections on March 14.

With 93.7% of polls counted, Uribe's party received 25.1% of the vote, accounting for 27 seats in congress, according to Colombia's national registry of the state, a government agency that oversees elections. The conservative party received 20.1% of the vote, earning 23 seats in congress and the liberal party 15%, accounting for 18 seats, according to the national registry.

"These are exceptional results," said Juan Manuel Santos, a former minister of defense and presidential hopeful for Partido de la U in a rally in Bogotá as the final ballots were being counted. "Voting for our party grew 70%. These results consolidate us as the nation's main political force."

In total, the parties that support Uribe gained 66 of the 102 seats in the Colombian senate, according to projections by Bogotá daily "El Tiempo."

Some parties also elected their candidates for the May 30 presidential election. Noemí Sanín, a former foreign minister and diplomat, is ahead in the poll to represent the conservative party, but the green party already has made its selection: Antanas Mockus, a former Bogotá mayor.

But as his party members reveled victory, Uribe experienced a sense of defeat. Carlos Alberto Jaramillo, who was a major proponent of a referendum that sought to change the Constitution to allow Uribe to run for a third straight term, lost his senate bid.

Former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) hostage Jorge Eduardo Géchem won the right to return to the senate. But other former hostages - Clara Rojas, Luis Eladio Pérez, Sigifredo López, Consuelo González and Orlando Beltrán - lost their elections, according to the Colombian newspaper La Nación.

Still, the number of victories by Partido de la U candidates demonstrated the gratitude shown toward Uribe's party for him being one of the best presidents in the battered South American nation's history.

Uribe's "democratic security" policy not only significantly weakened the FARC, but also attracted foreign investors, reduced violence and drug trafficking and created an economic miracle during his two, four year terms.

Since Uribe took over in 2003, the nation's gross domestic product has more than doubled to $242 billion, local IGBC stock index has risen more than nine-fold and the Colombian peso strengthened more than 40% according to BusinessWeek.

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