Weekly Report - 23 October 2008 (ISSN 1741-7422)

COLOMBIA | Budget approved. Congress has approved a Col$140.5 trillion (US$62.5bn) budget for 2009, a 13.1% increase on the 2008 plan. The finance minister, Oscar Iván Zuluaga, set aside US$16.5bn to service the public debt and US$13.2bn for investment. Zuluaga struggled to push the budget through the lower chamber after a rebellion in the ranks of the ruling Uribista coalition. Dozens of Uribista legislators joined the opposition Polo Democrático Alternativo (PDA) last week in boycotting a session to approve the plan because they objected, inter alia, to the lack of funding for the public registrar and comptroller general's office. Uribe's grip on his coalition is slipping. He was forced to withdraw his judicial reform bill last week due to a lack of consensus in the coalition. Cambio Radical also announced that it would support the popular petition on re-election, but only for 2014 - a clear sign that party leader Germán Vargas Lleras is determined to seek election himself in 2010 [WR-08-40].

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