The backlash to President Juan Manuel Santos’ proposal to only run for a two year term in the 2014 elections on Monday prompted a swift retraction in a letter addressed to Colombia’s Congress.
The proposal
President Santos initially declared in Cartagena on Friday that he was in favour of the proposal, and that if he were to be re-elected he would stay for a period of two years in order to synchronize the presidential, mayoral and governmental mandates.
The proposal had provoked a strong reaction from the opposition. The former president of the Constitutional Court, Carlos Gaviria, described the idea as “harebrained,” explaining that to extend the president’s term would require an amendment of Colombia’s Constitution, and that to give Santos two more years would amount to ignoring the voice of the electorate.
Senate President Roy Barreras today announced on Twitter that the proposal would not be considered before the 2014 elections, a decision which Santos has now made clear he agrees with.
In a series of tweets, Barreras explained that the proposal to eliminate re-election and extend the presidential mandate to six years will be discussed by the next government, and Congress. The U party Senator added that the extension of mayoral periods in office will be one of the first points of discussion after the 2014 elections.
The idea of extending the presidential term had stemmed from the support of former Senator Piedad Cordoba, who on April 3 declared that the terms for both Santos and Colombia’s Congress should be extended in order to allow continuity in the peace talks with left wing rebel group FARC.
According to Cordoba, Santos’s government is “working against the clock” to thoroughly develop the peace talks, including the full participation of civil society, and therefore declared herself in favour of extending the presidential term.
The Colombian president however moved to deny these claims in his letter to Congress.
Sources
- Prolongar el periodo presidencial “sería inexequible”: Constitucionalistas
- Colombia’s Santos changes mind on two-year re-election bid
- Reelección de Juan Manuel Santos sería por dos años
- Murió propuesta de reelección de Santos por 2 años; no va por ahora
- Piedad Córdoba propone ampliar presidencia de Santos