Uribe re-election moves intensify

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Supporters of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe have gathered five million signatures calling for him to be allowed to seek a third term in 2010.

The petition, which urges a vote on changing the constitution again, was delivered to the electoral authorities in three armoured trucks.

Mr Uribe, who was re-elected in after the constitution was modified, currently enjoys high approval ratings.

Critics say allowing him to run again would undermine Colombia's democracy.

Mr Uribe himself has not said publicly if he will try to seek a third term.

Last week, he marked six years in power, riding high on the back of success against the country's left-wing rebels and the disarming of paramilitaries.

Mr Uribe, who has long fared well in the opinion polls, saw his popularity soar in July following the high-profile rescue of 15 hostages from rebel hands.

"We may have a lot of capable politicians but none is more capable than Uribe," Luis Guillermo Giraldo, a former senator who organised the petition, told Reuters news agency.

'Personal gain'

His supporters say they have collected five million signatures, well over the 1.4 million, or 5% of the electoral roll needed to call for a referendum on constitutional change.

But the process is far from simple or quick.

The electoral authorities must verify the signatures within the next 30 days.

If the signatures are valid, the proposal will be sent for debate in Congress and to the constitutional court before any referendum can be held, most probably in the second half of 2009.

At least 25% of the electorate must take part for the referendum to be valid and the proposal must receive 51% of the vote.

There is also vocal opposition to allowing Mr Uribe to seek a third consecutive term.

"Once again we face a president modifying the constitution for personal gain," Senator Jorge Robledo told Reuters.

"Uribe is trying to skirt constitutional principles that talk about a system of checks and balances."

In 2006, Mr Uribe successfully stood for re-election after Congress controversially approved a constitutional change eliminating the rule limiting the president to one term in office.

In June this year, a former politician, Yidis Medina, was convicted of taking a bribe to vote for the re-election bill.

However