Colombia’s House of Representatives may postpone the final vote on a referendum seeking
the re-election of President Alvaro Uribe after the Supreme Court called 86 Representatives to
testify about their allegedly illegal approval of the bill.
President of the House, Edgar Gomez Roman, told Caracol Radio the House, instead of voting on the referendum on Tuesday, will have an extraordinary meeting the day before where the lawmakers may decide to postpone the vote.
The Supreme Court Thursday announced it wants to hear every one of the 86 Congressmen who were sued by a member of the opposition. Polo Democratico Representative German Navas Talero accuses his
fellow Members of the House of having approved the second referendum
while the first referendum had not yet been certified by the Registry.
The
Registry has already informally stated the financing of this referendum
did not meet the legal standards, because some companies gave more
money than legally allowed. The National Electoral Council is still
officially investigating this.
The referendum is the only way for Uribe to be re-elected again and
its passing through Congress has been controversial along the way.
If Congress is able to approve the referendum, the constitutional court must investigate the
constitutionality of it. Many Congressmen and analysts say the
referendum will not make it on time.