RICARDO DE LIMA
Essayist
On Tuesday 30 November, the House of Representatives of Colombia approved a constitutional reform allowing the immediate re-election of the President of the Republic, which includes the current chief executive, Álvaro Uribe Vélez, who, in his electoral campaign of 2001 and 2002, always declared his opposition to immediate re-election. Nevertheless, and once in the Presidency of the Republic, he denies any cunning has occurred, but this legislative act has been denounced by members of the opposition in the Congress of the Republic throughout the past year. (1)
The original arguments were not very intelligent and actually reduce to one argument: President Uribe is doing well and requires more than four years to win the war against violence. For that reason, it would be best for President Uribe to continue governing as expressed by his Minister of the Interior, Sabas Pretelt de la Vega. The debate promoted by the opposition forced the instigators of the re-election to sharpen their arguments, which could be summarized in the following way: (i) in order to win the war, the policies of democratic security must be allowed to continue, and this can only happen if Uribe can extend his mandate by four more years, (ii) democratic political culture has advanced in Colombia, which means that the electoral campaign will be counterbalanced; the final decision will rest in the hands of the electorate, (iii) there is a system for checks and balances, and guarantees for the opposition, (iv) the control organisms will guarantee that the executive will not abuse his power. These summarize the arguments in favor of immediate re-election.
