Published On: Fri, Apr 19th, 2013

Colombia President Santos´ six year itch

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Bogota, Colombia´s President Santos yesterday promised to bring forward a law to extend presidential and local government terms from four to six years.

Santos, speaking to regional political chiefs gathered in the Atlantic port city of Cartagena, promised to present to his national unity coalition in congress a set of proposals that would change the constitution, prohibiting the re-election of presidents, but extending by two years, their time in office. The measures would also apply to governors and mayors who complain four years is too short a period in office.

The president argued that were the law to be passed by the legislature he would, in the event that the sought re-election in 2014, be prepared to served a shortened, two year period, taking his overall years in charge of the nation to six.

The announcement appears to have taken the Colombian political world by surprise, and its indicates the advanced nature of Santos´ re-election plans.  The president said:

“I´m the first to recognize that four years is very little time for mayors. I think that six years is the ideal period, hopefully for all.”

“If I stand for re-election it´d be for two further years and from that point onwards all future presidents would have six year terms – without re-election.”

Santos also proposed to chronologically align the elections of the congress with those of the governorships and mayoralities, perhaps with a view to reducing the cost to the state of elections held in different years.

The proposals will now be taken to the directors of the parties of Santos´coalition before being considered for presentation to the legislative chambers.

Colombia Politics´ view

That Santos is to run for re-election is an almost cert, but that he could only serve effectively half a term is a potentially significant development. Santos has gone on record as saying that he will seek to govern only until he has secured the peace in Colombia.

Were he to have a platform of two rather than four years he could easily work through any law or constitutional changes that were to emerge from the peace process currently underway with the FARC in Havana.

It would also allow him to go to the country on an almost exclusive peace seeking platform. Elect me for two years and I´ll hand over a country on the way to peace, he could say.

Two years, 24 months, is an extremely short period of time, and it may allow Santos to avoid conjuring up a series of promises that deal with the problems affecting the nation beyond the issue of peace. In effect, he can leave that up to the chap who replaces him.

One other dimension is that it keeps ambitious ministers like German Vargas Lleras quiet. Vargas is almost certain to run in 2018, as the Santista candidate, but is a terribly kept secret that he would really rather like to be in the presidential palace come next year, but is almost prevented from doing so because of his subordinacy to Santos. Where he to have the promise of Santos´endorsement in only two years´time, well that would be a very attractive prospect indeed.

Watch this space.

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