More than 78% of Colombia’s population agrees with the Supreme Court decision to file criminal charges against former President Alvaro Uribe, according to a poll.
The CNC poll that was released on Tuesday is yet another slap in the face for Uribe, his far-right Democratic Center (CD) Party and his protege, President Ivan Duque.
The CD has fiercely opposed the court case and staged protests on Sunday and Tuesday in which they tried to inflate the former president’s support, claiming even that “Uribe is Colombia.”
Hundreds in Colombia take to the street to support Uribe ahead of court hearing
The “uribistas” couldn’t be more wrong, according to pollster CNC.
Even in Medellin, the stomping ground of the far-right party, the majority of people agree with the court, which on Tuesday formalized fraud and bribery charges against the former president that could put him away for at least six years.
In Cali, Colombia’s third largest city, as many as 92% agree with the court’s decision to charge Uribe over the alleged criminal practices that appear to seek to conceal his family’s criminal past.
Do you agree with the Supreme Court in charging Uribe for fraud and bribery?
Source: CNC
The poll confirms the rapidly declining support for Uribe whose disapproval rating last month, before he was called to court, also reached a record high.
The popular support for Uribe’s court case is bad news for the ruling party that was hoping to expand its local and regional power in elections on October 27.
But Duque’s exceptionally unpopular government and the mounting evidence of the Uribe family’s alleged criminal activity is making this an uphill battle.
Colombia’s ruling party facing headwind in local elections
Fortunately for the party, the court is not expected to rule in the Uribe case before the elections, which might have made the far-right’s prospects even worse.
Uribe’s possible incarceration could mean the end of the Democratic Center, which has used the former president’s silhouette as its logo and has basically been his political plaything ever since the party was founded in opposition to the country’s peace process in 2013