BBC (Monday): Poll blows for Colombia president (Leftist wins in Bogota)

[Jack Rabbit]

From the BBC Online
Dated Monday October 27 00:29 GMT (Sunday 4:29 pm PST)

Poll blows for Colombia president

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is facing a major setback to his plans to overhaul the political system and push through austerity measures.
Mr Uribe called a referendum on Saturday to seek public backing for 15 reforms but it seems most did not get enough support to be validated.
Delays in counting mean the full result is not likely to be known until later in the week.
The president has also suffered a reverse in Sunday's elections for the mayor of Bogota, with the government-backed candidate losing to a left-winger.

Read more.

[burrowowl]

1. Hope

the U$ backed Uribe loses!

[phaseolus]

2. quote --

"His slogan - 'No triumphalism, no arrogance' - was intended to set himself apart from the aggressive style of the president."

Heh heh ... I swear, there's something in the genetic makeup of anyone right-of-center that turns them all into assholes.

[Dirk39]

3. I'm jealous...

seems that all the reason and rationality in this world did emigrate to Latin America these days...
While the people in Europe and the USA have gone completely nuts.
Greetings from Germany,
Dirk

[Judi Lynn]

7. A lot of people are hoping these countries will finally become safe

from intervention and plundering from the "civilized" nations, FINALLY.

Always great seeing your observations here, Dirk. :hi:

[Evanstondem]

4. Another country that wants nothing to do with a friend of Bush

[dArKeR]

5. I don't think anything in the world will change as long as people

are labeled 'left' or 'right'. If the media can't explain to it's readers what's going on without such labels then I don't think there's any hope for the future of humanity.

[eablair3]

6. "delay in counting" the votes

"Delays in counting mean the full result is not likely to be known until later in the week."

Translation = does that mean they need more time to fix the results?

[Judi Lynn]

8. Thanks for the news!

Found more on the story from the L.A. Times after reading yours:

October 27, 2003
THE WORLD
Uribe Dealt Setbacks in Vote
Most of the Colombian leader's government reform package fails to garner support, and a leftist rival is chosen as mayor of the capital.

Uribe Dealt Setbacks in Vote


By Mauricio Hoyos and T. Christian Miller, Special to The Times


BOGOTA, Colombia — President Alvaro Uribe suffered a surprising double blow in two days of balloting that ended Sunday as Colombian voters rejected most elements of a government reform package he had promoted and chose one of his political enemies as mayor of the nation's capital.

Uribe, America's closest political ally in South America, had made the package of 15 constitutional reforms the centerpiece of his agenda, introducing it to Congress the day he took office last year.

For any measure to win approval, 25% of registered voters had to cast ballots on it. By late Sunday, however, with nearly 98% of the vote counted, it appeared that 11 of the 15 reforms had failed to meet that threshold. Among them was a freeze on state salaries that would have saved more than $600 million over the next several years.

Balloting was also held for local offices. In the Bogota mayor's race, victory went to Luis Eduardo Garzon, 52, a burly ex-communist and union leader who has consistently opposed Uribe. After the presidency, the mayor's job is generally considered the nation's highest-profile political post. Candidates backed by Garzon's Democratic Pole party were winning in several other important local races. (snip/...)

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-colombia27oct27,1,1485757.story?coll=la-headlines-world