Facing a possible coalition crisis, members of the coalition partner Partido de
La U Friday called on former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos to
return to Colombia and save the party and the coalition from falling apart.
Members of La U hope that the return of Santos will rebuild and strengthen the Uribista policy of the party. The Minister is currently in the UK.
“Juan Manuel Santos must return soon to help coordinate this [the Uribista policy] because the political naivety is killing us,” congressman Armando Benedetti told El Espectador. Benedetti clashed with La U president Luis Carlos Restrepo, after the senator had been using Twitter to report on an internal crisis meeting while the meeting was going on.
Earlier on Friday, Partido de La U asked the government to oust
members of coalition partner Cambio Radical from positions within the
government and give these positions to La U members.
Cambio Radical responded that it will stay in the Uribista coalition until the end of President Uribe’s current term.
Spokesman of Cambio Radical, German Varon Cotrino, assured that his party views Uribe as the “perfect leader”.
The Government has not yet made a statement regarding La U’s request to oust Cambio Radical.