BOGOTÁ – A top Colombian judge has recommended that the country’s highest court reject as illegal a proposal to allow Colombian president Álvaro Uribe to seek re-election in May, a former mayor and local media said yesterday.
The report, if confirmed, would fuel doubts on the political future of Mr Uribe, a key Washington ally popular at home for his US-backed security drive against leftist rebels and with Wall Street for his pro-investment policies.
Citing court sources, local newspapers and radio reported that constitutional court judge Humberto Sierra had recommended in a confidential paper that his eight fellow magistrates rule against the re-election proposal.
A court spokesman could not confirm details of the report, which is reserved for magistrates. But ex-Bogota mayor and former presidential candidate Antanas Mockus said on his Twitter account he had details that Judge Sierra had urged magistrates to vote no.
The judge’s report is a nonbinding recommendation and the judges still have two months to make their official ruling. But a negative recommendation could lend weight to those arguing against allowing Mr Uribe a third consecutive term.
The nine judges must decide whether to allow a referendum on amending the law to allow Mr Uribe to run for the third time. His eight years in power have been marked by successes in the country’s long conflict with leftist guerrillas. Violence from Colombia’s war has ebbed and foreign investors have been drawn by improved security.
Mr Uribe, already re-elected in 2006 after a constitutional amendment, remains non-committal on whether he will run again. Should he fail to secure the court’s backing, any successor is likely stick broadly to his security and pro-investment policies. – (Reuters)