Weekly Report - 18 March 2010 (WR-10-11)

Just over two weeks after Colombia's constitutional court barred President Alvaro Uribe from standing for re-election in May, parties loyal to him won a decisive victory in congressional elections on 14 March, fulfilling his main priority - that “policies not people" should be re-elected. The big winner was Juan Manuel Santos, whose Partido de la U led the field in the senate, with 25% of the vote, strengthening his claim to be the true heir to Uribe's legacy. The Partido Conservador (PC) also fared well in the senate, but the party is embroiled in an acrimonious internal dispute after a fiercely contested primary election failed to produce a clear victor. This threatens to undermine the unity of the pro-Uribe coalition in congress.