Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (27669)	11/20/2009 9:00:35 AM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

Uribe's Third Term Colombia's president can set a democratic example by saying no. NOVEMBER 20, 2009. A modern, democratic president with a 64% approval rating at the end of his second term has reason to be proud and wonder if he could win again. It's at precisely such a moment, however, when he should also remember that a properly functioning democracy never depends upon one man and requires the peaceful transfer of power. We refer to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, whose second term expires in August. When he took office in 2002 his country was beset by guerrilla terrorism. Millions of Colombians have benefited from his policy of "democratic security," which has restored order and confidence in government. But now his supporters are trying to win a constitutional amendment that would allow him to run for a third term, and Mr. Uribe has not told them "no." He should. Last week's ruling by a National Electoral Council panel invalidating millions of petition signatures supporting the required referendum on the issue is a perfect opportunity for Mr. Uribe to do so. Some legal analysts dispute the ruling and say the constitutional court is not likely to rely on it when making the final decision about the legality of a referendum. But the decision certainly complicates both the legality and politics of any third-term attempt, and the matter is now unlikely to be resolved for months. Meantime, the May election looms and Mr. Uribe's party has no candidate. Mr. Uribe has been a champion of the rule of law, and a lunge for a third term will threaten his legacy as a leader who has laid the groundwork for a new Colombia. It would also set a bad precedent for future rulers, some of them left-wing populists, who may point to it to justify their own attempts to remain in power. Latin America has a long history of popular leaders who decided they were too valuable to step down. Latins even have a special name for the strongman who won't go away: the caudillo. When the region returned to more democratic governments in the 1980s and 1990s, after decades of dictatorship, term limits on presidents were widely adopted. But they didn't last long. Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, Bolivia's Evo Morales and Ecuador's Rafael Correa have all used referendums to grant themselves indefinite rule. Hondurans recently blocked Manuel Zelaya from doing the same. Mr. Uribe is supposed to be another kind of president, a reformer who understands that Colombia needs a government of laws and not of men. By strengthening the institutions that defend freedom over nearly eight years, he has built a better country. His final gift would be to preserve those gains by allowing the transition of power to a new leader. online.wsj.com