US embassy cable - 04BOGOTA12860

UNCLAS BOGOTA 012860 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: DNG: UN 12/20/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, CO 
SUBJECT:  NEW DEVELOPMENTS ON REELECTION 
 
REF: Bogota 12290 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary:  Congress has reformed the Constitution 
to permit presidential reelection.  Implementing 
legislation is pending for the upcoming session.  Legal 
challenges are likely.  A showdown between two high courts 
is also a possibility.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (U) On December 14, the Senate and House both passed 
by large margins the conference committee version of 
legislation to permit presidential reelection (two terms 
maximum, consecutive or staggered).  The conference 
version (faxed to WHA/AND) produced a new twist, however, 
and poloffs followed up by consulting on legal and 
procedural issues with the House Speaker, the Secretaries 
General of both houses, and numerous members of Congress, 
one an immediate past magistrate of the Constitutional 
Court. 
 
3.  (U) The legislation completed eight rounds of 
debate/vote in both houses of Congress earlier this month 
(reftel).  The Constitution at this point is considered 
amended.  The next step, which must take place during the 
next session of Congress, March-June 2005, is passage of 
implementing legislation, which requires majority votes in 
both houses.  Once the Congress passes implementing 
legislation, the Constitutional Court would then have 
three months to review that legislation (a mandatory 
requirement).  It is worth noting that at this point any 
individual or party can legally challenge the 
Constitutional reform. 
 
4.  (U) The conference committee version of the 
legislation added a new twist, however.  The text 
stipulates that if either: 
 
A) The Congress fails to pass implementing legislation by 
June; or 
B) The Constitutional Court declares eventual implementing 
legislation null and void; 
 
Then the 27-member Council of State (Consejo de Estado) 
would be instructed to issue implementing legislation 
within two months of either of the above two events.  This 
has generated controversy in media and political circles. 
Another important aspect of the legislation is that 
sitting governors and mayors may run for president or vice 
president in 2006 provided they resign their current post 
one year prior to the presidential election, scheduled for 
May 2006. 
 
5.  (SBU) The legal foundation of the Council of State 
fallback option is subject to much debate.  Senator Carlos 
Gaviria, a former Constitutional Court magistrate, 
questioned the move and told poloffs on December 17 that 
in any eventual showdown between the Constitutional Court 
and Council of State the former would likely prevail.  In 
addition, leading daily El Tiempo ran an article on 
December 16 in which several former members of the Court 
and Council were interviewed regarding the fallback 
option.  None were in agreement about whether the 
provision was insurmountable on legal grounds. 
 
6.  (SBU) Comment:  Given Uribe's high approval rating and 
the wide margins of passage of the legislation, it is 
probable that the Congress will pass implementing 
legislation in the next session and that the fallback 
option will not be necessary. 
 
WOOD