Colombia’s Constitutional Court has finished examining the constitutionality of a referendum on the re-election of President Uribe and will vote on this Friday morning, newspaper El Tiempo reported on Wednesday.
The president of the high court, Mauricio Gonzalez, said that the judges have finished studying the basic themes of the case, and are now ready to vote and decide the outcome.
According to El Tiempo, unnamed sources from the court said that the court has shown a tendency to favor the findings of Humberto Sierra, a magistrate commissioned by the court to investigate the legality of the referendum. Sierra’s presentation found irregularities in the funding and organization of the referendum, and recommended that the referendum be declared unconstitutional.
Supporters of Uribe have been trying to hold a controversial referendum on allowing the president to run for a third consecutive term for years. The referendum was called for by 5 million Colombians and approved by Congress. The organizers of the referendum have little time left; the popular vote will have to be organized, held and approved while the Presidential elections are to be held on May 7.
