Reply #9: The second time he was elected, Senators were bribed 2 vote for his right to redo their constitution

[Judi Lynn]

and allow him to run a second time. Didn't you know? You should have paid attention.

Uribe's 2006 Reelection "Flawed" - Supreme Court
By Constanza Vieira

BOGOTA, Jul 5, 2008 (IPS) - At the same time that Colombian President Álvaro Uribe was welcoming U.S. Republican presidential hopeful John McCain in the north of the country, the Supreme Court issued a communiqué calling on the government to "respect and obey the decisions" of the courts.

It was the Supreme Court's response to Uribe's frontal attack on Jun. 26, when he announced a referendum to settle the Court's legal challenge to the constitutional reform that allowed Uribe to be reelected to a second consecutive term in 2006.

"Any undue interference fractures and unhinges the democratic rule of law in society," said the Supreme Court judges, who made no reference in their message to the referendum.

The verdict that upset Uribe had ruled that "the initiative to amend the constitution was flawed by criminal acts," and therefore the Constitutional Court would have to review the decision by which it was approved.

It also described how former Interior and Justice Minister Sabas Pretelt (now the Colombian ambassador to Rome), Social Protection Minister Diego Palacios and other officials, including Uribe himself, bribed then lawmaker Yidis Medina with offers of jobs and contracts to vote for the reelection, when it faced a tied result in committee.

More:
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43081

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Claims of bribery to approve re-election bill

In April 2008, Yidis Medina, a former congresswoman from the pro-government Colombian Conservative Party, claimed that members of President Uribe's administration had offered her to appoint local officials in her home province, in exchange for voting in favor of the 2004 reelection bill. According to Medina, the government had not fulfilled that promise, prompting her declaration. The Attorney General of Colombia ordered her arrest, after which she turned herself over to authorities and testified to the Supreme Court as part of the investigation. The opposition Alternative Democratic Pole party asked for President Uribe to be investigated for bribery.<95> After the declarations made by Medina, the Supreme Court of Colombia sent copies of the process to other judicial authorities, who have the jurisdiction to investigate several former and current cabinet members and other high officials. The Accusations Commission of the Colombian Congress will study the matter and decide if there are enough merits to officially investigate President Uribe. <96><97>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lvaro_Uribe