Colombia’s Constitutional Court is thoroughly reviewing the re-election referendum in order to determine the legality of the proceedings.
The Court ordered the electoral authorities, Congress and administrative judicial entities to submit records designed to meet the legislative process for the referendum, along with the judicial arguments that have thus far been made on the issue.
President Alvaro Uribe is seeking to hold a referendum regarding the possibility for a Colombian head of state to be consecutively reelected a third time. He held a successful referendum in 2006 in order to orchestrate a first reelection.
In the order, the Court demands knowledge of the National Electoral Council’s stand against the project: the funding caps, and the current state of the investigation, among other things, reported daily El Espectador.
In order to know all previous details relating to the referendum, the Court has insisted that the National Registry of Civil Status to submit a detailed report on the promotion of the initiative, as well as the legal requirements involved.
The order also includes the submittal of names of those who promoted the re-election referendum, and the conditions under which it was developed from the initial gathering of signatures of support from the citizenry. The Court also demands a favourable certification for each of these points of action.
It also calls upon Congress to more precisely describe all the legal stages at which the motion was passed, including the methodology and responses to complaints made.
Finally, the Constitutional Court’s order calls upon the Supreme Court of Justice, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Investigator General’s Office to help obtain the files in which references are made to the state of all legal proceedings and disciplinary advances, concerning the alleged approval of the project, on an illegal and contrary grounds to the disciplinary code.
