Politics of Colombia
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The politics of Colombia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Colombia is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of congress, the Senate of Colombia and the House of Representatives of Colombia. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
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[edit] Constitutional Reforms
Colombia's present constitution, enacted on July 4, 1991, strengthened the administration of justice with the provision for introduction of an adversarial system which ultimately is to entirely replace the existing Napoleonic Code. Other significant reforms under the new constitution provide for civil divorce, dual nationality, the election of a vice president, and the election of departmental governors. The constitution expanded citizens' basic rights, including that of "tutela," under which an immediate court action can be requested by an individual if he or she feels that their constitutional rights are being violated and if there is no other legal recourse.
The national government has separate executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
[edit] Executive branch
The president is elected for a 4-year term and, since 2005, can be re-elected for one consecutive term. The 1991 constitution reestablished the position of vice president, who is elected on the same ticket as the president. By law, the vice president will succeed in the event of the president's resignation, illness, or death.
[edit] Legislative branch
Colombia's bicameral Congress consists of a 102-member Senate of Colombia and a 161-member Chamber of Representatives of Colombia. Senators are elected on the basis of a nationwide ballot, while representatives are elected in multimember districts co-located within the 32 national departments. The country's capital is a separate capital district and elects its own representatives. Members may be re-elected indefinitely, and, in contrast to the previous system, there are no alternate congressmen. Congress meets twice a year, and the president has the power to call it into special session when needed.
[edit] Political parties and elections
- For other political parties see List of political parties in Colombia. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Colombia.
| Parties - Candidates | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Álvaro Uribe Vélez - Colombia First (Primero Colombia) | 7,363,421 | 62.20 | |
| Carlos Gaviria Díaz - Alternative Democratic Pole (Polo Democrático Alternativo) | 2,609,412 | 22.04 | |
| Horacio Serpa Uribe - Colombian Liberal Party (Partido Liberal Colombiano) | 1,401,173 | 11.84 | |
| Antanas Mockus Sivickas - Indigenous Social Alliance Movement (Movimiento Alianza Social Indígena) | 146,540 | 1.24 | |
| Enrique Parejo González - National Democratic Reconstruction (Reconstrucción Democrática Nacional) | 44,610 | 0.38 | |
| Álvaro Leyva Durán - National Movement for Reconciliation (Movimiento Nacional de Reconciliación) | 22,039 | 0.19 | |
| Carlos Arturo Rincón Barreto - Colombian Community and Communal Political Movement (Movimiento Politico Comunal y Comunidad Colombiano) | 20,477 | 0.17 | |
| Total votes for candidates | 11,607,672 | 98.05 | |
| Blank votes | 230,749 | 1.95 | |
| Total valid votes | 11,838,421 | 100.00 | |
| Null votes | 136,326 | ||
| Unmarked ballots | 84,041 | ||
| Total votes cast (turnout 45.1%) | 12,058,788 | ||
| Registered voters | 26,731,700 | ||
| Source: Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil. | |||
| Parties | Votes | % | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colombian Liberal Party (Partido Liberal Colombiano) | 2,646,404 | 19.0 | 35 |
| Social National Unity Party/Party of the U (Partido Social de Unidad Nacional, also known as Partido de la U) | 453,353 | 16.7 | 29 |
| Colombian Conservative Party (Partido Conservador Colombiano) | 1,363,656 | 15.8 | 29 |
| Radical Change (Cambio Radical) | 932,207 | 10.7 | 21 |
| Wings - Team Colombia Movement (Movimiento Alas Equipo Colombia) | 370,789 | 4.3 | 8 |
| Citizens' Convergence (Convergencia Ciudadana) | 397,903 | 4.6 | 8 |
| Alternative Democratic Pole (Polo Democrático Alternativo) | 708,664 | 8.2 | 7 |
| Liberal Opening (Apertura Liberal) | 199,810 | 2.3 | 5 |
| Regional Integration Movement (Movimiento Integración Regional) | 91,547 | 1.1 | 4 |
| Democratic Colombia Party (Partido Colombia Demócrata) | 215,753 | 2.5 | 2 |
| National Movement (Movimiento Nacional) | 175,012 | 2.0 | 2 |
| United People's Movement (Movimiento Popular Unido) | 129,977 | 1.5 | 2 |
| For the Country of our Dreams (Por el País que soñamos) | 99,565 | 1.1 | 2 |
| Huila New and Liberalism (Huila Nuevo y Liberalismo) | 80,688 | 0.9 | 2 |
| Mira Movement (Movimiento Mira) | 233,920 | 2.7 | 1 |
| Social Action Party (Partido de Acción Social) | 52,340 | 0.6 | 1 |
| Renovation Movement Labour Action (Movimiento Renovación Acción Laboral) | 33,308 | 0.4 | 1 |
| National Salvation Movement (Movimiento de Salvación Nacional) | 28,975 | 0.3 | 1 |
| People's Participation Movement (Movimiento de Participación Popular) | 18,449 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Progressive National Movement (Movimiento Nacional Progresista) | 8,146 | 0.1 | 1 |
| Total votes for parties (turnout 40.54%) | 8,678,535 | 100.0 | 162 |
| Sources: Adam Carr and Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil | |||
| Parties | % | Seats |
|---|---|---|
| Social National Unity Party/Party of the U (Partido Social de Unidad Nacional, also known as Partido de la U) | 17.49 | 20 |
| Colombian Conservative Party (Partido Conservador Colombiano) | 16.13 | 18 |
| Colombian Liberal Party (Partido Liberal Colombiano) | 15.52 | 18 |
| Radical Change (Cambio Radical) | 13.36 | 15 |
| Alternative Democratic Pole (Polo Democrático Alternativo) | 9.74 | 10 |
| Citizens' Convergence (Convergencia Ciudadana) | 6.25 | 7 |
| Wings - Team Colombia Movement (Movimiento Alas Equipo Colombia) | 4.68 | 5 |
| Democratic Colombia Party (Partido Colombia Demócratica) | 2.85 | 3 |
| Mira Movement (Movimiento Mira) | 2.35 | 2 |
| Living Colombia Movement (Movimiento Colombia Viva) | 2.46 | 2 |
| Let the Moreno play movement (Movimiento Dejen Jugar al Moreno) | 1.50 | 0 |
| C4 | 0.88 | 0 |
| Visionaries with Antanas Mockus (Visionarios con Antanas Mockus) | 0.77 | 0 |
| Comunitarian Participation Movement (Movimiento de Participación Comunitaria) | 0.56 | 0 |
| Communal and Comunitarian Movement of Colombia (Movimiento Comunal y Comunitario de Colombia) | 0.42 | 0 |
| Colombia Unite Movement (Movimiento Únete Colombia) | 0.17 | 0 |
| Independent Conservatism (Conservatismo Independiente) | 0.14 | 0 |
| National Democratic Reconstruction (Reconstrucción Democrática Nacional) | 0.08 | 0 |
| Progressive National Movement (Movimiento Nacional Progresista) | 0.09 | 0 |
| Indigenous Social Alliance (Alianza Social Indigena) | 2 | |
| Total valid votes (turnout 40.54%) | 102 | |
| Sources: Registraduria Nacional del Estado Civil, Caracol Radio | ||
| Parties | Votes | % | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indigenous Social Alliance (Alianza Social Indigena) | ASI | 44,557 | 28.27 | 1 |
| Indigenous Authorities of Colombia (Autoridades Indigenas de Colombia) | AICO | 21,304 | 13.52 | 1 |
| Total (turnout %) | ||||
| Source: Registraduria Nacional del Estado Civil.
Note: As the blank vote percentage was 58.21% (more than 50%), this special election must be repeated, with the same parties but different candidates [1] |
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[edit] Judicial branch
The civilian judiciary is a separate and independent branch of government. Guidelines and the general structure for Colombia's administration of justice are set out in Law 270 of March 7, 1996. Colombia's legal system has recently begun to incorporate some elements of an oral, accusatorial system. The judicial branch's general structure is composed of four distinct jurisdictions (civilian, administrative, constitutional, and special). Colombia's highest judicial organs include the Supreme Court, the Council of State, the Constitutional Court, and the Superior Judicial Council. This sometimes leads to conflicting opinions since there is no one court which clearly has authority over the decisions of the other three.
[edit] Principal Government Official
Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Colombia conventional short form: Colombia local long form: Republica de Colombia local short form: Colombia
Government type: republic; executive branch dominates government structure
Capital: Bogota
Administrative divisions: 32 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento) and 1 capital district* (distrito capital); Amazonas, Antioquia, Arauca, Atlantico, Distrito Capital de Bogota*, Bolivar, Boyaca, Caldas, Caqueta, Casanare, Cauca, Cesar, Choco, Cordoba, Cundinamarca, Guainia, Guaviare, Huila, La Guajira, Magdalena, Meta, Narino, Norte de Santander, Putumayo, Quindio, Risaralda, San Andres y Providencia, Santander, Sucre, Tolima, Valle del Cauca, Vaupes, Vichada
Independence: 20 July 1810 (from Spain)
National holiday: Independence Day, 20 July (1810)
Legal system: based on Spanish law; a new criminal code modeled after US procedures was enacted into law in 2004; judicial review of executive and legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Alvaro URIBE Velez (since 7 August 2002); Vice President Francisco SANTOS (since 7 August 2002); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Alvaro URIBE Velez (since 7 August 2002); Vice President Francisco SANTOS (since 7 August 2002); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Cabinet consists of a coalition of the two dominant parties - the PL and PSC - and independents
elections: president and vice president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 26 May 2002 (next to be held May 2006)
election results: President Alvaro URIBE Velez received 53% of the vote; Vice President Francisco SANTOS was elected on the same ticket
Legislative branch: bicameral Congress or Congreso consists of the Senate or Senado (102 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Camara de Representantes (166 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 10 March 2002 (next to be held March 2006); House of Representatives - last held 10 March 2002 (next to be held March 2006)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PL 28, PSC 13, independents and smaller parties (many aligned with conservatives) 61; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PL 54, PSC 21, independents and other parties 91
Judicial branch: four roughly coequal, supreme judicial organs; Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (highest court of criminal law; judges are selected by their peers from the nominees of the Superior Judicial Council for eight-year terms); Council of State (highest court of administrative law; judges are selected from the nominees of the Superior Judicial Council for eight-year terms); Constitutional Court (guards integrity and supremacy of the constitution; rules on constitutionality of laws, amendments to the constitution, and international treaties); Superior Judicial Council (administers and disciplines the civilian judiciary; resolves jurisdictional conflicts arising between other courts; members are elected by three sister courts and Congress for eight-year terms)
Political parties and leaders: Colombian Communist Party or PCC [Jaime CAICEDO]; Conservative Party or PSC [Carlos HOLGUIN Sardi]; Democratic Pole or PDI [Samuel MORENO Rojas]; Liberal Party or PL [Juan Fernando CRISTO] note: Colombia has about 60 formally recognized political parties, most of which do not have a presence in either house of Congress
Political pressure groups and leaders: two largest insurgent groups active in Colombia - Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC and National Liberation Army or ELN; largest anti-insurgent paramilitary group is United Self-Defense Groups of Colombia or AUC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Luis Alberto MORENO Mejia chancery: 2118 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 387-8338 FAX: [1] (202) 232-8643 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Beverly Hills, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Washington, DC
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador William B. WOOD embassy: Calle 22D-BIS, numbers 47-51, Apartado Aereo 3831 mailing address: Carrera 45 #22D-45, Bogota, D.C., APO AA 34038 telephone: [57] (1) 315-0811 FAX: [57] (1) 315-2197
[edit] International organization participation:
BCIE, CAN, CDB, CSN, FAO, G-3, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ITUC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
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