For Colombian voters, it's more jobs than security

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Eight years ago Jorge Parra voted for President Alvaro Uribe because he was fed up with the violence. But the street vendor says it will be jobs not security that will decide who he votes for in May's election.

Parra's case highlights a shift in voter priorities in a country where bombings and killings made daily headlines for decades. But with security improved, polls now show unemployment and healthcare rank as top concerns in the election to chose Uribe's successor.

"Why are we here? Because there are no other jobs," said Parra, 48, a father of three who sells candy in Bogota's streets. "That's why people turn to stealing and killing."

When Uribe was first elected in 2002, rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, threatened major cities. But during two terms, the hard-liner used billions in U.S. aid to batter the guerrillas and drive them back into jungles and mountains.

Though they may feel safer, with unemployment at 13.4 percent and many like Parra working in the informal sector, Colombians will be looking for the next president to generate jobs and address bread-and-butter issues like healthcare.

The two leading candidates -- former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos and former Bogota Mayor Antanas Mockus -- vow continuity of Uribe's security and pro-business policies with more emphasis on economic development.

Recent polls show they will likely be forced into a second round run-off in June in a increasingly tight race.

Asked about their top concerns, 39.4 percent of Colombians said reducing unemployment, followed by improving health services with 11.9 percent, according to a recent poll by Invamer Gallup. Security issues come at a distant third.

"Security is still a factor but it's not the determining issue in these elections," said Roberto Steiner, head of Fedesarrollo, a Bogota-based think tank.

"Colombia has the highest unemployment rate in the continent so I'm not surprised by people's concerns. The results of the polls seem perfectly reasonable."

CORRUPTION A FACTOR

Jorge Londono, pollster for Invamer-Gallup, said guerrilla and paramilitary violence traditionally led Colombians to think first about security before casting their vote. But with candidates already committed to a tough security stance, social issues have moved up on the list.

"Without a doubt this shift comes from Uribe's success in improving security, to the point where it's no longer a priority," Londono said.

But analysts agree that the election could be decided by other factors.

Although Uribe enjoys an approval rate of 70 percent, his second term has been marred by human rights and corruption scandals, including state spies' illegal wiretapping of opposition politicians and investigations into troops killing civilians and passing them off as rebels to claim rewards.

During April, Mockus surged in polls with his message of clean government while analysts say Santos may have suffered because of his close ties to the Uribe government as voters indirectly link him to scandals.

"I would say that even when people say the main issue is unemployment, they won't vote for someone who offers the most credible jobs program," Londono said.

"In the end, they'll decide between security, voting for Santos, or handling corruption with the transparency offered by Mockus," he said.

But for street vendors like Liliana Vergara, who began selling cellphone minutes when she lost her job, it will be her and her son's economic welfare that will decide between Santos and Mockus.

Vendors sell everything from flowers to disposable garbage bags on the streets of the major cities in Colombia, where more than 3 million people have been uprooted by the conflict, many flocking to the safe-haven of cities.

Even Vergara's son, Hugo Arevalo, 21, who served a mandatory year in the army, has been struggling to find a job.

"I've sent my resume everywhere," Arevalo said. "But they say I'm not qualified.

(Reporting by Luis Andres Henao, Editing by Patrick Markey and Sandra Maler)