A Colombian opposition party called for candidates in the May 2010 presidential elections to work together to prevent President Álvaro Uribe from seeking a third consecutive term in office. In a January 25 statement on Caracol Radio, Jaimie Dussán, director of Polo Democratico Alternativo party, asked fellow opposition leaders to sign a letter rejecting Uribe’s possible candidacy.
The letter would be delivered to Colombia’s Constitutional Court, which is reviewing a bill calling for a national referendum on the issue. The bill passed Colombia’s lower house in September after the Senate approved it in August.
Dussán, who considers the referendum illegal, wants conservative politicians including German Varags Lleras and Noemi Sani to join left-leaning politicians in opposing it.
Uribe’s supporters hope the referendum can be approved and passed in time for his name to be on the May ballot. Uribe previously circumvented a constitutional ban on reelection through a national referendum in 2006 before winning his second term by a landslide.
