Rabs was right in his prediction: Colombia Court Rejects Uribe Third-Term Bid, Caracol Radio Says

[Judi Lynn]

Colombia Court Rejects Uribe Third-Term Bid, Caracol Radio Says
By Helen Murphy

Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Colombia’s constitutional court voted 7-to-2 against a referendum that would allow President Alvaro Uribe to run for three consecutive terms, Caracol Radio reported on its Web site, without citing a source for its information.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=amCs.hsbqO0o

[Peace Patriot]

1. Thanks for the news. I wonder if Panetta influenced this decision. nt

[Bacchus39]

2. Uribe says will respect the decision

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100227/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_colombia_uribe_re_election



BOGOTA – Colombia's Constitutional Court shut the door Friday on President Alvaro Uribe's aspirations for a third straight term, ruling unconstitutional a law that would have let voters decide in a referendum whether he could run again.

The high court's 7-2 decision is not subject to appeal.

The court ruled on a law passed by Congress that would have set up a referendum asking voters whether Colombia's conservative president could run again.

Uribe is hugely popular for serioulsly weakening leftist rebels, but he has also been widely criticized by human rights activists for allying himself with politicians who collaborated closely with far-right death squads.

First elected in 2002, the 57-year-old Uribe won re-election four years later after allies in Congress pushed through a law amending the constitution so he could run again.

"I heed and respect the decision of the honorable Constitutional Court," Uribe told the nation in a live broadcast on national television. "I have one wish: The wish to be able to serve Colombia from whatever trench, under whatever circumstance, until the last day of my life."

Upon hearing the decision, a crowd of about 100 people near the court's downtown offices broke into applause and shouts of approval.

Uribe had been coy about whether he wanted a third term — expressing concern only that his "democratic security" policy that has seriously cut kidnapping and murder rates be continued by whomever wins the election set for May 30.

In announcing the ruling after seven hours of deliberations, the Constututional Court's president, Mauricio Gonzalez, said justices found a number of irregularities in the passage of the law on the referendum for a third term. He said that taken together, the anomalies amounted to "a grave violation of democratic principles like transparency and voter rights."

The court objected to, among other things, the fact that the money spent to obtain the signatures required for the referendum law exceeded the legal maximum.

Influential Colombians from leading industrialists to the president of the Inter-American Development Bank, Luis Alberto Moreno, had opposed a third term for Uribe — not because they were not happy with his tenure but because they said a third term would hurt democratic stability.

Even the U.S. government, a strong backer of Uribe, suggested it was time for him to relinquish power.

During a visit by Uribe to the White House last year, U.S. President Barack Obama politely suggested in front of reporters that two terms was plenty, citing the example of the first president of his country, George Washington.

Uribe's popularity has consistently been about 70 percent throughout his tenure but in recent months dropped about 10 points as resistance grew to his re-election.

The court's decision Friday leaves a wide open race for those who would succeed him.

Uribe's term ends on Aug. 7.

[Wilms]

3. .