Last year, most of the political activity in Colombia revolved around President Álvaro Uribe's intention to run for a third term in 2010. Even though campaigns for the May presidential election (and Congressional election in March) started a while ago, it is clear that most Colombians are waiting for Mr. Uribe to decide whether to run or not. Last week he told a local radio in Montería (the President has been giving interviews for regional radio stations outside Bogotá during the last few days) that his second reelection is up to [es] “the [Constitutional] Court, the people, and God”. In September, the Congress passed a law [es] calling for a referendum on a constitutional reform in order to allow Mr. Uribe to run for a third term in office. In 2005, the 1991 Constitution had already been amended to allow Uribe's re-election. This law must pass through revision by the Constitutional Court. The Inspector General's Office (Procuraduría) must issue [es] a non-binding statement (concepto [es]), which nevertheless is usually taken into account by the Court's justices. On Tuesday, January 12, Inspector General Alejandro Ordóñez (a staunch [es] Catholic known by his conservative positions on issues such abortion, contraception, and gay rights [es]) issued his recommendation [es], which was favourable to the referendum, an initiative led by politician Luis Guillermo Giraldo and which has been full of controversy on its funding, its mistakes of procedure during its debate at the Congress, and even blatant grammatical errors in the question asked to voters. The initiative, nevertheless, brings some concerns, since the 1991 Constitution was designed for presidential terms of 4 years and allowing a re-election may affect Colombia's internal democratic institutional structures. Before the Inspector General's statement became public, Jaime Restrepo from the blog Atrabilioso addresses [es] an article by the newspaper El Espectador regarding “God's political power” [es], given the statements quoted above, claiming that despite being a lay state, Colombia remains a confessional nation, specially since Uribe has been in office: Comencemos por decir que, para los cristianos, Dios no sólo tiene que ver en el proceso sino que es Su voluntad la que decidirá la suerte de la “encrucijada del alma”. Desconocer las prácticas y creencias religiosas de millones de colombianos no solo es una torpeza, sino que demuestra la intolerancia totalitaria de algunos sectores antiuribistas. Restrepo also slams left-wing politicians and even members of the Catholic Church who reacted to Mr. Uribe's words on the issue. Colombia's top Cardinal, Pedro Rubiano, had already expressed [es] his support for Uribe's re-election, but in 2014. During and after Mr, Ordóñez's long press conference [es] on Tuesday afternoon, broadcast live on the media, Colombian twitterers reacted to the explanation he made before stating that the referendum law should be declared constitutional: @egolaxista : Lo gracioso es que si el concepto del Proc[urador] es favorable a Uribe dirán que ese concepto es muy importante, pero [si no] dirán que no es obligato[rio] Jorge Ruiz @chandaxi: se ha sabido echar severo tedeum el procurador, esto vale por 7 misas @egolaxista: O sea que LG Giraldo terminó siendo un genio, porque hizo la trampa más legal de toda la historia en Colombia. Richie Tamayo @melisMatik: Gracias Gustavo Petro hijo de puta. Con el voto que te dí ayudaste a poner a ese cabrón de Procurador que nos clavó la reelección. @pcastano : ¿A alguien le quedaban dudas sobre la gran desgracia que es el señor procurador? Carlos Torres @carlostor : Igual solo era un formalismo, el concepto del Opus Dei no obliga a la corte, a ella la obliga “el estado de opinión” #Uribe3 Gabriel Amorocho @gamorocho: [¿]Voto en blanco inexequible? Nos jodieron. Al procurador le faltó decir: “voten por Uribe” @simonwilchesc: [¿]Es verdad que el procurador terminó de dar su concepto y mostró esta foto? http://tinyurl.com/ylppae6 María Isabel Ángel V @MaisAngel: Por lo menos las dictaduras militares rompieron con las instituciones de un solo golpe, no a [cuentagotas]… @kamiloklauss: La esperanza es que el referendo pasado se le hundió. #referendo #uribeIII The hope is that his last referendum sunk #referendum #uribeIII @egolaxista : Yo cambiaría el Libertad y Orden, por un “Adelante Presidente” en comic sans tamaño 72. Adelante, acabe con todo.