Green Party candidate for Bogota mayor Enrique Peñalosa has rejected the dissent of some party members in regards to his accepting backing from former President Alvaro Uribe.
Peñalosa said he has the full support of his party behind him in his candidacy, and that there are no rules against citizens supporting his campaign, referring to support from the ex-president and the Partido de la U.
The candidate responded to his fellow party member Antanas Mockus, who has expressed strong disagreement with forming an alliance with Uribe or his party, saying that when Mockus was running for president, “we accompanied him without any type of restriction on his candidacy.”
The current candidate and former mayor added, in an interview with RCN Radio, that, “yes there are people in disagreement, what a shame, but here what is important is to move the city forward,” saying that alliances with the president’s Partido de la U would be related to specific programs, and not for bureaucratic reasons.
Meanwhile, Mockus and four other Green Party members signed a Thursday night communique that talks about the “risks” of accepting support from Uribe in Peñalosa’s campaign.
“We are warning against the risk that comes with accepting the support of people tied to corruption scandals, dirty politics and attacks against life. This puts the ideology of the Green Party at risk and, even worse, the risk of losing the backing of citizens. To receive support of this nature, would leave the Green Party without the moral grounds to constitute itself as alternative.”
The statement also makes it clear that, “we maintain the right to dissent against the alliances with certain parties and in particular the support of Alvaro Uribe.”
According to Caracol Radio, 75% of the party has accepted the idea of forming coalitions and has not vetoed the support of “any person or candidate,” including the former head of state, while the minority continues to strongly disagree.
Party spokesperson Luis Eduardo Garzon accepted that divisions exist in the party, but said that this does not signify that Mockus will reject Peñalosa’s candidacy.