BOGOTA (AFP) – Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has cleared a major hurdle to serving a third consecutive term, after lawmakers approved holding a referendum that would allow him to stand for re-election.
The move, which came just minutes before midnight (0500 GMT Wednesday), must still be endorsed by the Constitutional Court before a referendum can be held later this year.
The House of Representatives gave its nod in an 85-5 vote, one vote more than the minimum required, after a grueling debate that lasted more than 12 hours.
Uribe, a conservative and close US ally, has a 68 percent popularity rating in the polls and would be well positioned to become the first Colombian since the late 1800s to serve three terms as president.
"President Uribe is a person who enjoys immense popularity in the country. Everyone recognizes the work he has done and the way he has transformed Colombia," Interior Minister Fabio Valencia told RCN radio in Bogota.
First elected president in 2002, Uribe was easily reelected in 2006 after Congress amended the constitution so he could run for a second term, a move still under investigation because a lawmaker said he was bribed for his vote.
The House vote late Tuesday was the last legislative hurdle needed to holding a vote on amending the constitution so that the 57-year-old president could present himself as a candidate in the May presidential elections.
Last month, the Senate also gave the nod to a referendum on allowing Uribe to run for a third presidential term.
But opposition parties -- and even some of Uribe's political allies -- strongly opposed the change.
The two main opposition parties -- the centrist Liberal Party and the leftist Democratic Party -- charged that he was engaging in illegal maneuvers to remain in power.
"We are convinced that everything was done within the most rigorous legal manner," Valencia said. "We are very comfortable, but obviously we're awaiting the court's review."
There has been a growing trend in Latin America for incumbents to prolong their time in power through the use of referendums, notably by leftist leaders in neighboring Venezuela and Bolivia.
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was overthrown in June after he tried to hold a referendum on extending term limits -- a move that the country's high court had declared illegal.
In Colombia, the plan to call the referendum has been punctuated with allegations of irregularities since it was launched in mid-2008 by the National Unity Social Party, one of six parties that make up the ruling coalition.
Uribe has not clearly indicated whether he would make a 2010 run for re-election but has repeatedly expressed his intent to ensure his policies would be continued.
Polls show he would have a large lead over potential rivals should he decide to run again.
Uribe remains popular thanks to his US-backed campaign against the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas and for achieving one of the country's best economic performances in 30 years, with GDP growth of 7.52 percent in 2007.
The FARC, Latin America's oldest and largest insurgency, has been battling the Colombian government for four decades.
The opposition says Uribe's military success has come at the cost of a rise in human rights violations and that his economic strategy only benefits big business.
But he remains popular despite scandals involving extrajudicial killings by the army and the wire-tapping of rivals.
A Gallup survey conducted in July found that 76 percent of those Colombians willing to vote in the referendum were in favor of the proposal.
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