The referendum to demand a constitutional change to allow Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe a second re-election is encountering more
obstacles in Congress.
Independent Representatives of the House want members of the Partido de la U dismissed from the Ethics Committee when voting about the proposed dismissal of House chairman German Varon. The Congressmen claim the Partido de la U members are not allowed to vote on the admissal, because the request for it came from their party President.
Partido de la U leader Luis Carlos Restrepo, whose party is the promoter of the referendum, asked the Committee to dismiss Varon for choosing the commission needed to approve the referendum. According to Restrepo, Varon — an opponent of the re-election — is not able to appoint senators without bias.
According to the Congressmen trying to exclude Partido de la U members from the Ethics Committee vote, because of their party policy, Partido de la U politicians are biased and unable to vote freely.