Colombia’s Inspector General’s Office will investigate accusations
the government is pressuring and bribing Congressmen to assure the
approval of the referendum needed for the re-election of President
Alvaro Uribe.
Inspector General Alejandro Ordoñez told Caracol Radio it is his constitutional obligation to investigate the accusations by German Vargas Lleras, presidential candidate for Cambio Radical, and Rafael Pardo, presidential candidate for the Liberal Party, the Government.
According to Vargas Lleras, the government is pressuring lawmakers to approve the bill when it is voted for in the House Tuesday. Pardo denounced funds for public security are used for projects that can benefit Representatives in their districts when the 2010 Congressional elections come around.
The approval of the referendum in the last congressional vote in the House Tuesday is said to become tight. Many of the coalition’s Representatives who voted in favor of the bill before are under investigation by the Supreme Court for allegedly illegally approving the referendum.
