U Party ditch Uribe
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos received a resounding endorsement from his party’s chairman at a press conference on Friday, who was dismissive of the Uribista wing of the party and the former President.
Jaime Buenahora claimed that “99% of the parliamentary party” back Santos as leader, putting to bed any claims Alvaro Uribe has to its direction.
He called Santos the “natural leader” and emphasised the president´s centrist credentials, claiming he represented a “progressive ideology” that was distinct from Uribe. He said that many within the U Party saw Uribe and Santos as not only representing different styles but also different philosophies.
Indeed, he pointed out that Senator Juan Carlos Velez, who has become the most strident of congressional Uribistas, was a “dissident spokesman and a representative of the Conservative party”. He remarked: “that (Conservatism) is the real ideology of former President Uribe”.
The backing of his party has fortified Santos’ position as leader in a year when he is expected to announce his candidacy for the next Presidential Elections in 2014.
What is more, it confirms the ideological shift of the leadership away from the conservative and divisive politics of Uribe that were the hallmark of his presidency, towards a more “progressive” and “third way” brand of politics that Santos believes he represents.
