Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe will seek a third
consecutive term after the country’s Congress approves a referendum to change
the constitution, allowing him to stay in power after 2010, said Congress president Hernan Andrade.
Senators will approve the referendum between May 13 and May 14, Andrade told newspaper El Espectador. There is no doubt Uribe will try to seek a re-election, he added.
A group of allies of Uribe gathered five million signatures asking to hold a
referendum to change the constitution to allow a third presidential term.
After the Congress vote, the Constitutional Court will have to approve the
referendum and this will happen in the second half of the year, Andrade added.
Uribe, who was first elected in 2002, had the constitution already changed in
2005 to enable him to seek a second four-year term in 2006. Uribe was reelected
that year with 62% of the vote. (with Dow Jones)