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Colombia

 Flag of Colombia

Last reviewed: 02 June 2009

Country information

POLITICS

Executive power is exercised by the President (assisted by a Cabinet), who is elected for a 4-year term by national elections. Legislative power is vested in 2 chambers, consisting of a Senate (102 members elected for 4 years) and the House of Representatives (165 members elected for 4 years). The country is divided up into 32 departments and 1 Capital District. The 1886 Constitution was reformed by a Constituent Assembly in 1991.

The 2002 elections confirmed that the 2 traditional parties, the Liberals and the Conservatives, no longer totally dominate political life. Congress is now learning how to handle coalition politics following the success of a number of independent candidates, and representatives of political movements.

A key feature of the country's democratic system has been its resilience. This is reflected in the strong tradition of elected civilian Governments broken only twice, for a cumulative total of less than 5 years of non-civilian rule, since the founding of the Republic in 1819, giving the country the longest democratic legacy among Latin American countries.

In the mid-1960s 2 main guerrilla groups, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and National Liberation Army (ELN), were established. Successive Presidents have had to face the consequences of internal armed conflict. The previous President Andres Pastrana's programme focused on peace processes with all the guerrilla groups, the fight against corruption, fiscal and political reform, an expansion of the state's role in education and health, better income distribution and poverty reduction, and job creation. Under 'Plan Colombia' the previous Colombian Government produced a drugs strategy that included targets to reduce the cultivation, processing and distribution of drugs by half from 2000-2005. The strategy, now adopted by the current government, also reinforced existing judicial measures to hit drug traffickers and confiscate assets and tackles the interconnected problems of violence, social and economic inequality, and abuse of human rights.

Elections

President Alvaro Uribe secured a second, 4-year term in elections held on 28 May 2006. It was the first time for over 100 years that a sitting President had been able to be run for office for a second successive term.

Regional and municipal elections took place on 28 October 2008. The opposition Polo Democratico party won the mayorship in Bogota. However, President Uribe’s party consolidated their position winning 17 out of 32 seats.

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