The Colombian Constitutional Court will not approve the referendum seeking the re-election of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, news website CM& predicted late Thursday night. The court will announce its decision on the bill today.
According to CM&, the court “found the re-election referendum unconstitutional due to errors in its processing.”
There are nine magistrates who will vote on the controversial bill. CM& predicts the vote will go 8-1 or 7-2 against the referendum.
News and political analysis website Nuevo Siglo agrees with CM&’s prediction that the referendum will not pass.
Website La Silla Vacia yesterday predicted the same outcome.
CM& says that the principal error found in the bill was its change of text by the Senate, after it had already been voted on in the House of Representatives.
Debate also surrounds the referendum’s constitutionality in the context of Uribe’s first re-election. In 2006 the court authorized his one-time re-election. The question is, is a second re-election constitutional if the court previously authorized a “one-time” re-election, or does the popular initiative for another re-election take precedence?
Uribe wants to run for a third term in office, which is prohibited by the constitution. The Constitutional Court has studied the referendum bill proposing Uribe’s re-election, to determine if it is constitutional. If the bill is approved, the referendum will then have to be held before the presidential elections in May.
The court will meet at 9 AM Friday to vote on the referendum.