MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Colombia’s Uribe closer to the second “re-election of his ideas”

President Alvaro Uribe

Colombia's senate has delayed a vote on scheduling a referendum that could let President Alvaro Uribe seek a third term. Lawmakers had been expected to vote Wednesday but the body put off consideration of the measure until May 19 for lack of quorum.

Colombians previously underwent a similar experience that allowed Uribe's 2006 re-election. Uribe is a US-backed conservative with high poll ratings. He's widely popular for humbling the Western Hemisphere's last remaining insurgent army closely linked to the drug cartels.

But his presidency has suffered from alleged Army killings of more than 1,600 civilians, a collapsed pyramid scheme, a wiretap scandal and allegations his family may have benefited inappropriately from a land investment.

However political analysts believe the referendum will be finally approved given the ample majority of the government in Congress. The following stage is a conciliation committee that will address the two bills, one approved by the Senate and the other by the Lower House.

The Constitutional Court will then have half a year to decide on the legality of the congressional initiative.

However the move is involved in growing controversy on claims that the promoters of the bill committed “financial irregularities”, something which is being investigated by the Electoral Court.

Uribe was first elected in 2002 and again in 2006 following a constitutional review which opened the way for the re-election. But last year a former member of Congress confessed she received favours from government to support the reforms. She’s serving a four year jail sentence.

Opposition leaders are calling for a boycott of the initiative and the referendum since the perpetuity of the president in office can only be described as a “dictatorship”.

President Uribe has argued he’s not interested in office but rather ensuring in the May 2010 presidential election, the “re-election of his ideas”.

The Catholic Church, business leaders, the media and the US State Department have publicly expressed their opposition to the second re-election of President Uribe.