REELECTION (GOOD OR BAD)

kikiortiz11 says on Jan 22, 2005, 14:22:

Good I believe Reelection to be a good thing because it gives a president whom has done a good job to keep up his programs. Its the people who are deciding so if they choose to reelect or not its up to them.

Kiki Ortiz-Matallana

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santiBOG says on Jan 22, 2005, 16:04:

REELECTION: BAD FOR COLOMBIA What is being considered (or did it already pass?) is not the reelection of Uribe. It's reelection, period.

It would be nice to reelect Uribe. But just uribe. The problem is that later down the road we don't know who'll be in power. Whomever it is, the incumbent will have way too much power against his opponent(s).

Unfortunately, the Colombian political class is full of corrupt money-hungry regional politicians. It's the way it is and it's the way it will always be. There's no way around that. Permitting reelection opens the door to more of the same political games. That is, favors in exchange for political support (Uribe himself is doing it right now... imagine how others would abuse their presidential power).

A president in power who is trying to reelect himself is just bad for the country because he will turn from being a President to being a candidate and will use the full power of the Presidency to crush his opponent.

Furthermore, the Colombian electoral regulations are not there to regulate this kind of abuse. Something is being put together right now but the people in charge of doing it are a group of hardcore Uribe supporters (hardly a good fit for the job of writing the norms that are supposed to keep Uribe from abusing his power).

Everyone interested in this topic should read the following column by Gomez Buendia regarding reelection called "La Aplanadora":

http://semana.terra.com.co/opencms/opencms/Semana/articulo.html?id=84146

Hey I like Uribe as much as the next guy but this whole reelection deal just smells bad.

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juancegomez says on Jan 23, 2005, 10:12:

While I don't want Uribe to be reelected I'm not opposed to reelection per se.

And I don't believe that the situation is as clearly pessimistic and fatalistic (ie: self-defeating) as Buendía's article makes it seem.

"Furthermore, the Colombian electoral regulations are not there to regulate this kind of abuse. Something is being put together right now but the people in charge of doing it are a group of hardcore Uribe supporters (hardly a good fit for the job of writing the norms that are supposed to keep Uribe from abusing his power)."

It's not necessarily going to turn out that way yet, because it's not as simple as it's being presented...here's an excerpt from today's EL TIEMPO that is more accurate in showing the entire picture:

"II. Ley de garantías

En el acto legislativo quedó consagrado que el Gobierno presentará al Congreso -antes del primero de marzo- un proyecto de ley estatutaria que reglamentará las garantías a la oposición. Si el Congreso no lo tramita antes del 20 de junio, el Consejo de Estado expedirá la ley en un plazo de dos meses y de forma transitoria.

Por ahora, el Gobierno, según lo reveló el ministro Sabas Pretelt, trabaja con varios congresistas, académicos y otros expertos en un borrador del proyecto, mientras que el Partido Liberal presentará otra iniciativa que debe estar lista el 10 de febrero. El presidente de la Comisión Primera del Senado, Mauricio Pimiento, busca concertar con todos los sectores políticos un texto único.

Dicha ley debe regular las garantías al resto de candidatos que compitan con el presidente candidato e incluyen la participación en política de servidores públicos, el derecho al acceso equitativo a los medios de comunicación (radio y televisión), la financiación de las campañas presidenciales y el derecho de réplica. Entre los puntos neurálgicos está la financiación de las campañas. Para el Gobierno debe ser mixta con preeminencia estatal, mientras que la oposición considera que esta debe ser ciento por ciento estatal."

http://eltiempo.terra.com.co/poli/2005-01-23/ARTICULO-WEB-_NOTA_INTERIOR-1950956.html

So it is far too early to know exactly what is going to happen with the multiple proposals that are going to be presented in Congress and will have to be "reconciliated" by June 20th (only if it is not processed by then can the "State Council" intervene, and even that could be considered unconstitutional).

Don't put the cart before the horse, or however that saying goes.

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santiBOG says on Jan 24, 2005, 10:46:

You're right, the world ain't gonna end with re-election, but it will be a sad day for Colombian democracy. Who cares if the laws and regulations are there, they're being written by Uribe anyway.

Todo suena muy bonito pero en Colombia no se puede andar dando papaya para que los políticos se aprovechen.

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