Re-elected President in Colombia May 29, 2006
Posted by dtenjo in Latin America, News and politics.add a comment
"Uribe Presidente… again. I must say I feel somewhat of a relief to see Mr. Uribe up in presidency for another four-year term. As i satated on this blog last week, he was my preferred candidate, and I still think the results from yesterday's elections in Colombia are very positive, and encouraging. I do feel that the near and long-term future of Colombia is better under Uribe's government.
As I also stated on my previous Blog, all the power given to Uribe does produce a bit of concern. One wonders how he will react to so much power that is on his hands at the moment. 62% of the overall votes elected him; plus a vast majority in the Colombian congress in his favour provide Uribe with the ability to act pretty much in any way that he wants. This represents a big challenge for the re-elected president, as he has to be very careful not to become authoritarian. Uribe should to maintain the same line of government that he has kept for the last four years, which has increased overall security in Colombia by strengthening the armed forces, has seen a steady economic growth, and has shown great diplomacy in Colombian relations with other countries; all this while respecting democracy. We have seen previous examples of other re-elected presidents in Latin-America which have not been positive at all in their second term, and have lead to crisis in their countries. Let's hope that this will not be the case for president Uribe, and that he can remain governing Colombia with the great democratic leadership that he has maintained for the last four years.
Another one of my concerns is the fact that I've heard some rumors that within Uribe's followers in congress there is the idea to create another motion thet will further modify the Colombian constitution to allow the president to be re-elected for up to three periods. This is very much alarming, as I think it was bad enough to modify the constitution once, and now thet Mr. Uribe is re-elected, they want to make yet another change in the constitution to be able to re-elect Uribe again. The constitution of a democratic country should not be treated like a toy that can be modified as you please. It should be the most sacred of political documents, which should remain unchanged, as it allows us to maintain a democratic harmony within our country. Uribe's program of government should be planned for the next four years, and that should be it. No more extensions to his government, no matter how good, or bad it will be, Uribe should govern for the next four years, the way the people of Colombia have demanded, and the the Constitution commands, not a single day beynd that.
Good luck to Mr. Uribe in the next four years. This time he faces more and greater challenges, all the pressure is on him. I believe he will be able to deliver a good government, and keep straightening the direction to which Colombia is going.
D.
Presidential Elections in Colombia May 24, 2006
Posted by dtenjo in Latin America, News and politics, Politics.1 comment so far
Ok, so it is time to place my opinion on the upcoming elections that will happen in Colombia this weekend. Who is my favourite candidate? I must admint that I am still supporting Alvao Uribe. I don't get to vote for these elections, as I live very far away from the country now, and I never got to register on time to vote. You know, it never made any sense to me that the deadline for registering to vote was like december of last year, it was january when I contacted the Colombian consulate to see if i could register to vote, and they told me it was too late already. Oh well, I gues I just wasn't meant to vote. Too bad, as I would have liked to partcipate in the decision making of my country, which i am still very much attached to, but still, it is not like my vote will make a huge difference. However i do like to participate, and be part of every democratic decision making.
Why am i supporting Alvaro Uribe? I think at this point in the country he is the most highly qualified person to govern the country. This is very unfortunate, as it shows a lack of proper lieders there. I never really agreed with Uribe on modifying the Colombian constitution to get to be reelected, as I always thought this is like changing rules in the middle of the competition. I never thought it was right to do what he did. When he was elected for the first time he should have known that he was signing up for only one term in the presidency, and not any time longer than that. It is also a bit scary when a person is granted too much power for too long, and this is what we are seeing in Colombia right now. Uribe loves power, and he seems to be getting too much of this for himself, and a longer period of him in presidency might get to his head, and we might see some authoritarian signs down the road (which some claim to have seen already).
Uribe did show some results during the last four years, there is a generalized sense among Colmbians that things are better there, and especially during the first two years of his government results were evident. However, I still think that the end of Uribe's work should be at the end of this term; He should not want to go for another 4 years to "complete" his work. Uribe's work wether is too much, or too little should be about to be finished, as under normal circumstances he should have gone for just one term.
As I said above, inspite of all this I still think taht Uribe is the better person to govern Colombia at this point. I don't think that any of ther otehr candidates full has what it takes to govern the country and at least uribe has demonstrated that he can do it. And I still do believe Uribe can do a lot more for Colombia. Let's just hope that if he does get elected, the power doesn't get to his head. Carlos Gaviria is the candidate from a socialst party (polo Democratico), which I still don't trust fully as it is a descendent from the former guerilla group M-19. I must admint I don't know Gaviria toomuch, but his socialist ideology makes me believe he is not the right person. horacio Serpa, going for his, what is it, his FOURTH? shot at presidency… He should really have given up already, especially after he promised during the last elections that he was not going to go for it anymnore, but yet he still comes trying to get elected. He just doen't have what it takes.
In summation, my support goes for Uribe. Some polls indicate that he will be elected this weekend, during the first round of elections, and let's hope it is this way so that we don't have to go through the whole thing again on a second round. Hopefully from next Monday Uribe will be able to only worry about governing our troublesome country.
D.
D Blog 