Conservatives ahead in Colombian vote count amid fraud charges

[Judi Lynn]

Conservatives ahead in Colombian vote count amid fraud charges
AFP
March 16, 2010, 5:51 am

http://l.yimg.com.nyud.net:8090/fv/xp/afp/20100316/04/3644838777.jpg

BOGOTA (AFP) - Conservatives were on track to preserving their majority in Colombia's congress, early election results showed Monday, reassuring supporters of US ally President Alvaro Uribe's hard line against leftist rebels.

With 93.8 percent of polling stations reporting, the parties that make up Uribe's ruling coalition received more than 53 percent of the vote, compared to 15.8 percent for the main opposition Liberal Party, according to the results.

With the clock running down on his second term Uribe cannot stand again for reelection, and with the legislative elections out of the way the parties were expected to turn to the business of choosing candidates for the May 30 presidential elections.

Former defense minister Juan Manuel Santos, 58, appeared strengthened in his bid to become the conservative standardbearer after his Social National Unity Party, a strong Uribe backer, led the vote count with 25.17 percent.

Besides Santos, other conservatives vying to succeed Uribe were ex-foreign affairs minister Noemi Sanin, 61 and former senator Vargas Lleras, 48.

Opposition presidential hopefuls include Rafael Pardo, 47, an economist and former defense minister from the once-powerful Liberal Party, and Gustavo Petro, 50, a former senator, ex-M-19 guerrilla and economist from the leftist Democratic Alternative.

Uribe's ruling Conservative Party and its allies were widely expected to firm up their majority in both chambers of Congress, despite 12 pro-Uribe legislators being convicted on charges linked to right-wing paramilitary death squads.

Polls closed in Colombia late Sunday, following a largely peaceful day of balloting that allowed 29.8 million registered voters to pick 102 senators and 166 House members.

The manual vote count, beset by what was described as "grave" communication problems, was proceeding slowly, and final results were not expected soon.

"No public order incidents affected the electoral process," said General Orlando Paez Baron, a security official, despite an early morning gunfight between troops and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas in Cauca that left one soldier dead.

"These are the most peaceful elections we have had on our national territory in the last 25 years," he added.

Observers warned that the main threat to the election's credibility was vote-buying.

"The most sensitive issues... is not violence, but rather vote buying," Organization of American States observer mission head Enrique Correa told AFP.

He said voters in the northern Bolivar region were paid for their votes inside the polling station.

More:
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/6936883/conservatives-ahead-in-colombian-vote-count-amid-fraud-charges/

[rabs]

1. Convoluted article, and it does not even mention Andrés Felipe Arias

Arias is key to keeping the uribismo movement in the presidency.

The AFP article mainly focuses on the Congress and Chamber of Deputies elections. The results are not surprising; the Party of the U (uribismo), the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party were expected to lead the field with the leftist Polo and other splinter parties trailing.

But what is much more interesting is the battle royale in the key Conservative Party's election of its presidential candidate.

The difference between Arias and rival Noemi Sanin as of this morning was 404 voted out of more than 11.4 million cast. Of course neither side is giving in and charges of fraud are flying.

The electoral council today said it will re-count all the votes manually beginning tomorrow and the results may not be known for days.

Arias, you will recall, is called "Little Uribe" (uribito) and it has been said that he is Uribe's choice to replace him. There is talk that there could be an Arias/Santos ticket, or a Santos/Arias ticket should uribito win over Noemi.

Whoever wins, Arias or Sanin, it is likely that the Conservative Party is now ripped apart and that could hurt the chances of JM Santos in his presidential run. The Party of the U coalition needs the conservatives to win the election. Should Noemi Sanin win, it is known that she detests JM Santos.

I personally think that Santos will NOT win the presidency; he has no traditional political party behind him (such as the Conservative or Liberal), he has never run for an elected office and he is too linked to the massive uribismo scandals that have many Colombians sick and tired.

But it's still too early to get a reliable viewpoint of the presidential elections, set for May 30.

Stay tuned.

[Billy Burnett]

2. The vote buying reads just like a Miami New Times article on Miami elections.

Like this one,

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2008-10-30/news/2008-presidential-election-could-spur-voter-fraud-in-miami-dade/

or this one,

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2004-10-28/news/absentee-minded/


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