Economy & Business - November 2003

The vote on whether the law which ended the state-owned Administración Nacional de Combustible, Alcohol y Portland's monopoly on oil refining, importing and exporting should be overturned takes place on 7 December. The latest opinion poll, on 18 November, shows that the `Yes' vote (ie, the anti-privatisation vote) is holding firm at around 46%. Yet to overturn the law, a simple majority of the votes cast (50% plus one vote) is needed. The 'No' vote is just ahead of the undecideds (28% to 27%). The vote is a big test of political opinion before the presidential elections next year. By law, voters have to vote in the referendum. This is likely to lead to a large number of spoilt ballots, which may complicate the calculation of the result.