Colombian coalition party Cambio Radical threatens to punish its
members in Congress who vote in favor of a 2010 re-election of
President Uribe.
According to C&M, the party will impose “harsh sanctions” on those who decide not to follow the party’s policy of not supporting the immediate re-election of Uribe.
Cambio Radical leader German Vargas Lleras has been campaigning for months to prepare his official candidacy for the Presidency. However, some party members in Congress would prefer that the current President stay in office and announced Tuesday they will support the re-election.
Because of its leader’s ambitions, Cambio Radical has become the most dissident coalition member and the weakest link in the Uribista attempt at seeking a third term for the popular President.
Members of the coalition are seeking to revive a reformulation of the referendum held about the re-election to make it possible for Uribe to run for office again in 2010. The referendum was signed by approximately 4 million Colombians, but only allows the President to seek a third term in 2014.