Colombia's Uribe calls for repeat of '06 election

By Hugh Bronstein

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said he wants to repeat the 2006 presidential election that gave him a second term, in a combative response to a court ruling that said the vote was tainted by corruption.

The Supreme Court found late on Thursday that a former lawmaker was bribed into supporting a constitutional amendment that allowed the popular U.S.-ally to seek re-election.

Uribe's reaction to the ruling stood Colombian politics on its head. With about 80 percent popularity, according to opinion polls, analysts agree he could win another election and extend his time in office, but at a political price.

"This is his way of taking the momentum back from the court. It's a brilliant counterpunch," said Mauricio Romero, political science professor at Bogota's Javeriana University.

"He is saying that institutions do not matter as much as his popularity does."

It was unclear if the president's gambit was a serious bid for a special election or just a way to cow his detractors.

Even before the bribery scandal, Uribe had left open the possibility of another change in law that would allow him to run again in 2010, an idea that some of his closest allies disagree with.

The scandal and the president's answer to it upset local financial markets and could further complicate efforts at passing a trade deal with the United States even though Uribe is the White House's closest friend in South America.

A Wall Street favorite respected for his tireless work ethic and unbending opposition to leftist guerrillas who killed his father years ago in a kidnapping attempt, Uribe is known for confronting his critics head-on.

The bespectacled president is seen as a hero to many for cutting crime and sparking economic growth while cracking down on rebels fighting a four-decade-old insurgency.

Romero said he has been losing support among political leaders, government watchdog institutions and the media. "If he goes ahead with the idea of repeating the 2006 election it will be at a huge political cost," he said.

Colombia's peso currency fell on Friday after Uribe said Congress should approve a referendum to allow voters to decide if a repeat election will be held. This would take the matter out of the hands of the courts, with which Uribe has feuded over his hard-line policies.

The judges on Thursday sentenced ex-Congress member Yidis Medina to nearly four years of house arrest for accepting illegal favors from government officials in exchange for supporting the re-election bill.

PESO FALLS

The court also asked constitutional authorities to determine whether Uribe's re-election was legal in light of the bribery, raising the possibility that it could be overturned and sparking the ire of the famously short-tempered leader.