The First Committee of Colombia’s House of Representatives turned
down President Álvaro Uribe’s possible re-election in 2010. Supporters of
the President will now try to have the 2014 re-election approved by Congress.
The proposal to change the text of the referendum, so Uribe could be re-elected in 2010 was denied by 18 of the 33 lawmakers in the committee.
The referendum initially was meant to demand the 2010 re-election, but because it was wrongly formulated it needed to be rephrased afterward. The reformulating of the text was denied.
The following bill to change the constitution to allow Uribe to run for the 2014 presidential election was approved and will be proposed for approval by the Plenary session of the House and the Senate.
Colombia’s constitution until four years ago only allowed a president one term in office. This was changed in 2004 so Uribe could run for re-election. The constitutional change needed to allow the popular president a second re-election was forced by a referendum. 4 million Colombians signed in favor of the constitutional change.
The referendum’s come under scrutiny after news broke that one of the sponsors of the popular vote was suspected pyramid scheme and money launderer DMG. The organizers refuse to reveal who financed the operation, which is currently being investigated by the Attorney General.