As noted earlier in the week, the process to amend the Colombian constitution in a manner that would allow President Álvaro Uribe to run for a third consecutive term hit the congress this week.

Uribe has never been direct about his desire for a third term, although until recently he seemed willing to let the process play out.

Now, he seems to have come down against the amendment. Via El Tiempo No ocuparse del referendo por la reelección pidió el presidente Uribe al Congreso ["Don't Worry Yourselves over the Re-election Referendum, Uribe tells Congress"]

“Yo pienso que para el futuro del país es mucho mejor trabajar para que los colombianos sigan interiorizando la Seguridad Democrática, que simplemente ocuparnos de perpetuar al Presidente”, manifestó.

“Yo quiero pedirle al Congreso de la República que por favor se ocupe de las reformas a la politica, a la Justicia y a los otros temas, y no del referendo”, dijo Uribe, en un encuentro con estudiantes en el norte de Bogot.

Quick translation:

“I think that the for the future of the country it is much better that Colombians continue to internalize Democratic Security than simply having us perpetually occupy the presidency.

“I want to ask the Congress that they would please occupy themselves with reforms to general politics, justice and other themes, not the referendum,” said Uribe in a meeting with students in the north of Bogotá.

Note “Democratic Security” is the name given to Uribe’s policies vis-à-vis the violence.

If anything, this statement should give political cover to any member of the bloc of pro-Uribe parties in the congress who wasn’t too keen on voting for the amendment but feared a backlash from Uribe, assuming that that process moves forward (which is unclear at the moment).

Congress will now have to decide if it should set aside a request by four million Colombians (via petition) to address the question of reform, or if they should take the president’s statement as a definitive rejection.

The question remains as to whether Uribe is sincere in his pronouncements about the reform or if he is playing a calculated game of appearing disinterested until such a time as he is “forced” to accept the will of the people and pursue a third term. Certainly if his long-term position was opposition, he could have stopped the entire process some time ago.

Greg Weeks has speculated recently that Uribe may simply have not been able to make up his mind on this topic to date, and hence the lack of a clear signal to date. Perhaps he has actually made up his mind. His behavior going forward will be telling. Will be continue to say that the Congress should concentrate on other matters, or will he revert to ambiguity?

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