Colombia: Congress will not remove Paramilitary MPs

Caracas, Venezuela, 11 June 2008. Yesterday, a minority managed to block a Senate Committee motion to remove congress members linked to illegal groups or paramilitaries. The motion called "Political Reform" was discussed  during a 8 hour meeting.  There were heat exchanges with Colombian Home Minister, Carlos Holgín.  However,  Alvaro Uribe team showed its muscle to oppose the reform.   It was backed by only 8 votes but 2 opposed it. As it needed all votes to pass through the general debate, the motion was rejected. This motion was introduced by the opposition Polo Democrático Alternativo (PDA). It aimed to address the continuing institutional crisis at the Colombian Congress which started in 2006 when congress men were found to have links with both paramilitaries and drug traffickers.  In response to such political move from the opposition, the Uribe administration proposed an alternative action.

Today and after its victory at Congress, Uribe government quickly appointed its own seven-member-commission of institutional adjustment to draft a Constitutional reform to be discussed at Congress by 20 July 2008.  The members of this commision are the following: Hugo Palacio Mejía Ex Minister of Finance; Humberto de la Calle Lombana,ex Minister of State; Eduardo Montealegre, Ex Member of the Constitutional branch of the Supreme Court; Doly Pedraza de Arenas, Ex Member od the State Magistrate; Carlos Ignacio Jaramillo, ex member of the Supreme Court of Justice; Vivian Morales, ex Senator; and Rodrigo Noguera Calderón, University professor.

Sources: El Nuevo Siglo, Telesur, El Colombiano, RCN, Caracol, El Tiempo, Senado de Colombia, Vanguardia Liberal,