Referendum brings Uribe closer to third term

BOGOTÁ, Colombia - After Congress approved a voter referendum to allow a third consecutive presidential term, Colombian President Álvaro Uribe made it clear that he would wait for the Constitutional Court to ratify the process before announcing whether he intended to run in the 2010 general elections or not.

Colombia's Chamber of Deputies approved the referendum by a narrow margin, reported El Pais, after a 13-hour debate by 165 congressmen. The government's proposal received 85 votes, and 84 were required to pass the motion.

The process must first be ratified by the Constitutional Court which has clashed with Uribe in the past and, according to Radio Caracol, "a flood of demands for alleged constitutional breaches" are expected to delay final approval.

For the referendum to be valid, one quarter of the electorate, or 7.5 million people, must vote in the ballot.

"Uribe will only announce his candidacy after the referendum," confirmed Interior Minister Fabio Valencia Cossio in El Tiempo, and added that "late January or early February [2010] would be a good time" to hold a nationwide poll to once again modify the constitution, as in 2006, and pave the way for Uribe's second consecutive re-election.

Cossio jubilantly announced that "congress confirmed the feelings of most Colombians," alluding to the five million signatures collected in the petition required to propose the bill.

Opposition senator Juan Fernando Cristo believes, however, that the electoral calendar will not allow Uribe to complete all the necessary steps. "It's a futile effort, unless he breaks the Electoral Guarantees Law," Cristo said to AP, which requires candidates to announce their run six months before the elections. The first presidential ballot is scheduled for May 2010, which means Uribe has until Nov. 30 to decide whether he wants to run for a third term.

So far, Uribe has not made any public declarations. Political analyst Álvaro Forero told BBC Mundo that "Uribe's silence is not a whim. He cannot speak because the constitution prevents him from interfering politically. This could give rise to potential legal action against him."

Source: http://infosurhoy.com

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