Colombia's government denies having bribed Congressmen in its attempt to have the 2006 re-election of President Alvaro Uribe approved, after the former notary watchdog said lawmakers received notary offices in exchange for their vote.
In a short statement published on the website of Uribe, the President says that even though the Government is free to appoint notary offices to whoever they want, the Government had not bribed and instead is trying to eliminate patronage.
The former Superintendent of Notaries, Manuel Cuello Baute, Friday said he had filed a complaint before the Supreme Court that 34 Congressmen were benefited with the appointment of 79 notaries after voting in favor for the constitutional change that allowed Uribe to be re-elected for the first time in 2006.
Three Congressmen already were convicted for having accepted government bribes to assure the constitutional change, approved in 2004, would make it through Congress.
The President is currently seeking a constitutional change needed to be able to run for the third time. This process is also facing accusations of fraud.
