Over a month ago, on February 26th Colombia’s Constitutional Court concluded a two-year debate on whether President Álvaro Uribe could run for a third term. The Court’s ruling finally jumpstarted Colombia’s presidential campaign. Candidates that served with Uribe in his eight-year presidency introduce themselves as the next Uribe. Non-uribistas candidates are presenting fresh alternatives focusing on the shattered institutions Uribe is leaving behind while maintaining incremental approaches in some current successful security policies.
Colombia’s pervasive economic challenges have received limited attention. Fedesarrollo, Colombia’s leading think tank is organizing three presidential debates to discuss candidate’s positions on sensitive economic issues like infrastructure; the development of the Orinoquía, a vast region with untapped resources coupled with Colombia’s challenge on managing rents from its natural resources; trade, banking, and fiscal decentralization; and taxation and how to address high levels of informality.
Although Uribe is out of the competition, presidential candidates are defining themselves based on how close or how far they stand from Uribe’s eight-year presidency. According to recent polls, candidates Juan Manuel Santos and Noemí Sanín are likely to receive most support during May 30’s first round, currently polling at 36 and 17 percent respectively. Both served in Uribe’s government and each of them is running under the two major political groupings of Álvaro Uribe’s coalition –U Party and Conservative Party, respectively. Santos’ broad message is to continue making progress –para seguir avanzando; Sanín’s you work, you produce, you progress –trabaje, produzca, progrese. Both emphasize their commitment to continue Uribe’s policies.
Candidates in the opposition include two former uribistas, Germán Vargas Lleras who led his party Radical Change to oppose Uribe’s third reelection and would likely join Juan Manual Santos, and Rafael Pardo who went back to the Liberal Party to lead the opposition. The last two candidates in the opposition include Gustavo Petro, Democratic Pole; and former mayor of Bogotá Antanas Mockus who joined forces with Enrique Peñalosa and Luis Eduardo Garzón under the Green Party, and recently formed an alliance with Medellín’s former mayor Sergio Fajardo. The four candidates have made substantive efforts to present more concrete and well-prepared proposals than those of the two Uribista candidates.
Despite the number of candidates, each of them qualified to govern, there has been limited opportunity to hear them or their teams engage in discussions on their platforms.
A first face off on national television took place at the end of March and a second similar exercise had to be canceled due to imminent absence of Santos and Sanín, who would probably continue avoiding these events.
On April 8, 2010 Fedesarrollo Colombia’s leading think tank organized a debate in the city of Cali focusing on key economic issues that have not been addressed in detail by the presidential candidates. The vice-presidential candidates from the Green Party, Radical Change, U Party, and Conservative Party and Candidate Rafael Pardo attended Fedesarrollo’s debate. The debate specifically asked the presidential and vice-presidential candidates to explain how they would address some of Colombia’s most pressing problems including: infrastructure, where Colombia continues to have significant gaps affecting its competitiveness; science and technology; and the development of the Orinoquía.
The Orinoquía is a vast region in Colombia occupying 30 percent of the country’s territory and source of 32 percent of the country’s water reserves. Over 1,300 people attended the debate in Cali and the event was broadcasted live on open television by Telepacífico for the pacific region in Colombia and by cable to the rest of the country. Telepacífico also broadcasted live the debate on its website www.telepacifico.com.
Economic issues are at the forefront of Colombia’s challenges. Fedesarrollo’s effort to channel the presidential election from who wants to be the next Uribe to which candidate can respond to Colombia’s economic challenges is remarkable.
Fedesarrollo continues to be at the forefront of understanding Colombia’s economic challenges while engaging decision-makers to move beyond general discussions to actual policy debates. Two more debates are scheduled to take place. The second debate will take place on April 15 in Barranquilla and will focus on trade, fiscal decentralization, and access to finance. The final debate will focus on the huge challenge of informality and the need for labor market reform and national taxes. Fedesarrollo’s final presidential debate will take place in Bogotá on May 3.
Fedesarrollo is CIPE’s featured partner for March 2010. Every month, CIPE on social media features one partner to highlight its work and the issues it faces in its region.
Published Date: April 12, 2010