Colombia

Uribe calls for new presidential vote

Article published on the 2008-06-27 Latest update 2008-06-27 15:04 TU

Alvaro Uribe
(Photo: Reuters)

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe asked Congress Thursday to call a referendum proposing a rerun of the previous presidential election. This after the Supreme Court asked the Constitutional Court to examine the legality of his reelection in 2006. It follows a politician's admission that she took a bribe to back a constitutional reform scrapping the rule that presidents could stand for only one term.

"I am going to convene Congress to swiftly produce legislation on a referendum that would call the people to repeat the 2006 presidential election," Uribe said in a broadcast address.

He won the 2006 vote with a wide margin.

Carlos Malamud, senior adviser for Latin America at the Elcano Royal Institute in Madrid, says the struggle between executive and judiciary powers in Colombia is fierce.

"Nowadays the popularity of Uribe is around 80 per cent," he told RFI. "That's very, very high. If the president appeals only to a referendum to reaffirm the results of the election of 2006, I suppose the vote will be very, very strong. But if there are new elections in new conditions, it depends on the identity of the candidates of the opposition."