Colombia in turmoil pending possible reelection

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President Alvaro Uribe has thrown Colombia into political turmoil after a Supreme Court decision questioning the legitimacy of his 2006 reelection led him to ask that voters have an opportunity to redo the vote.

Uribe said he would press Congress to approve a referendum asking voters whether they want to repeat the 2006 presidential election.

Sen. Hector Eli Rojas of the opposition Liberal Party accused Uribe of seeking the plebiscite as ‘an excuse for a third term.’ But presidential spokesman Cesar Mauricio Velasquez said Friday that Uribe’s ‘only interest is to confirm the legitimacy of his election’ for the term that ends in 2010.

Uribe, who has a high approval rating, has declined to rule out seeking a third term, which would require a change in the constitution.

Read the Associated Press report here.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City