Colombian rightists want third term for Uribe

BOGOTA, July 22 (Reuters) - Allies of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe are pushing for a referendum that would let him stand for a third term to carry on his popular fight against Marxist guerrillas and keep foreign investment flowing.

Uribe, the closest ally of the United States in Latin America, is leaving open the option of running again in 2010, and polls say he would easily win.

But Colombia's scandal-hit Congress would first need to approve a referendum vote on whether to change the constitution allowing him to seek an unprecedented third term.

"We plan to introduce the bill before September, once we have gathered 5 million signatures supporting the referendum," said Sen. Carlos Garcia, head of the Party of National Social Unity which backs Uribe and is know as "Partido de la U".

Supporters have gathered 3.5 million signatures so far and the idea of a third term for the strong-willed conservative leader has won growing support in recent months.

"We put the chances of Uribe seeking and winning a third term at 60 percent, with downside risk to Colombia's institutional stability and integrity," said Patrick Esteruelas at the Eurasia Group consultancy in New York.

Opposition lawmakers and some members of Uribe's own coalition fear that a third term would allow him to dominate Congress, the courts and the central bank, disturbing the balance of power.

Uribe has said he would prefer to step aside but also that he would run again if that is the only way to keep his economic policies and tough security measures on track.

His popularity topped 90 percent after the army's July 2 rescue of French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages held for years by left-wing guerrillas.

GUERRILLA WAR

With Congress weakened by a scandal linking nearly one out of four lawmakers to drug-running paramilitaries, many voters say Uribe is the only politician with the credibility to lead Colombia and crush the rebels.

Garcia said the referendum vote could be held in May or June next year if the measure passes Congress and is cleared by Colombia's Constitutional Court.

Uribe was reelected in 2006 after the law was changed to allow a second term, and has consolidated his power while dozens of lawmakers are being investigated on charges of using right-wing paramilitary death squads to intimidate voters.

Thirty legislators are in jail awaiting trial, most of them from the president's coalition.

A farm owner from the mountains around the northern industrial city of Medellin, Uribe is admired for strengthening the economy and going on the attack against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which killed his father in a botched 1983 kidnapping.

Foreign investment has grown sharply under Uribe but a free trade deal with the United States is being blocked by U.S. Democrats concerned that Colombia has not done enough to stop violence against trade unionists and suspected leftists.

Other possible candidacies for the 2010 vote, such as that of Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos, are on hold while the bespectacled Uribe keeps the country guessing about his plans.

"There is no guarantee the referendum bill will pass Congress, especially if Uribe does not come out and say he wants it," said Santiago Castro, a long-time Uribe supporter from the Conservative Party and member of the lower house.

"Partido de la U is the only party that has committed to the project," Castro said. "The rest of us still have not." (Reporting by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Kieran Murray)