Uribe supporters in Bogotá to define election strategy
Colombian ex-president Alvaro Uribe´s Democratic Centre (DC) movement meet today in Bogotá to define a strategy for the 2014 general election campaign.
Regional leaders and the four hopefuls fighting to become the official presidential candidate are gathered in a hotel in the north of the capital in what has been billed as the DC´s first national get-together.
Uribistas hope to emerge tomorrow having agreed a policy platform and a battle plan to whip up support across Colombia´s 32 departments ahead of the congressional elections in March, and the presidential run-off in May.
Although the DC has yet to decide its list of candidates for the senate and the house of representatives, rumours have emerged that José Obdulio Gaviria, Alvaro Uribe´s long-term chief of staff will head up the senate list.
José Obdulio is a controversial right-winger, often questioned for his familial ties to drug lord Pablo Escobar, but he is considered one of the architects and principal ambassadors of the Uribista ideology and the “democratic security” doctrine that defined the eight years of Uribe´s government.
Uribe´s followers are desperate for the former president to return to front-line politics by heading up the list himself, so the news of José Obdulio´s candidature is likely to disappoint some. The Democratic Centre´s support is in large part directly attributed to the charismatic ex commander-in-chief, and questions remain about the expected level of voter interest should Uribe decline to put his name forward.
At the same time, the campaign is underway to choose the Democratic Centre´s candidate to run against President Santos´ likely re-election tilt. Former finance minister Oscar Iván Zuluaga, Senator Juan Carlos Velez, former vice-president Francisco (Pacho) Santos, and ex-minister and peace commissioner, Carlos Holmes Trujillo are all in the running.
Although the winner will not be defined at this week´s meeting, each candidate will make his case in a series of key-note speeches setting out the vision for a return of Uribismo to the Casa de Nariño presidential palace.
This morning´s presentations included talks from Pacho Santos, Zuluaga and Uribe himself. Santos, who currently leads the way, revealed that the movement will undertake a series of polls across five regions to define the candidate.
As the discussion resumes this afternoon, the Democratic Centre´s leaders will focus on the political agenda in an effort to define a series of eye-catching promises to take to voters.
Colombia Politics will report on the detail of this policy platform as it emerges.
Picture, ColPrensa.
