Colombia’s former president Alvaro Uribe told politicial supporters Wednesday he will not run for Bogota mayor later this year.
According to newspaper El Tiempo, the former president met with members of Congress, former ministers, and members of the Bogota city council on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss Colombia’s upcoming local elections.
The former president will try to promote the candidacy of alligned candidates through “democracy workshops” throughout the country.
However, despite calls to run for mayor in Bogota, Uribe told supporters “we can’t waste time in a possibility that doesn’t exist.”
Without Uribe, the coalition Partido de la U is most likely to support the candidacy of former Bogota mayor Enrique Peñalosa, who in last year’s presidential elections supported independent candidate Antanas Mockus.
Uribe will hold his first “democracy workshop” in Bogota on January 29 after which he will tour the country until the elections in October.