Coalition parties asked Colombian President Álvaro Uribe to clarify his
plans for the 2010 elections. They want the President to explicitly say
whether he aspires a third term or not.
Senators of the coalition parties said Wednesday the President’s ambiguity has made it difficult for the coalition to close ranks and unitedly approach the election to secure a continuation of Uribe’s so-called Democratic Security policy.
Cracks in the coalition have begun to appear because of the Presidential aspirations of members of the Conservative party and German Vargas Lleras, leader of Cambio Radical. Both parties are now part of the coalition.
There’s disagreement within Congress and within the coalition about the possibility of the President being re-elected in 2010. The opposition, together with Cambio Radical sunk a proposal that paved the way for an immediate re-election.
A re-election in a later year is still legally possible, but some coalition senators say even the 2010 re-election of the popular President is not dead yet.
The lawmakers demand Uribe to tell them exactly what his plans are the next time the Head of State meets with coalition members in Congress.