By Hugh Bronstein
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe calledon Thursday for a rerun of the 2006 presidential election inwhich he won a second term, after the Supreme Court ruled itwas tainted by corruption.
The Supreme Court found that a former lawmaker was bribedto support a constitutional amendment that allowed the popularpresident to seek an unprecedented second consecutive term.
Uribe said Congress should approve a referendum to allowvoters to decide if a repeat election will be held. That wouldtake the matter out of the hands of the courts, with whichUribe has feuded over his hard-line policies.
"The right path has to be democratic rule," Uribe said onTV following the court decision.
The Supreme Court sentenced ex-Congress member Yidis Medinato nearly four years of house arrest for accepting illegalfavours from government officials in exchange for supportingthe re-election bill.
The court also asked constitutional authorities todetermine whether Uribe's re-election was legal in light of thebribery, raising the possibility that it could be overturned.
Uribe, in his television address, accused court judgesabusing their power.
With Medina sentenced, charges are expected to be filedagainst the officials she says induced her vote by promisingshe would be able to name her friends to local governmentcommissions in her home province of Santander.
Colombia's Congress last month opened a preliminary inquiryinto whether Uribe, the staunchest ally of the United States inSouth America, was directly involved. The case could furthercomplicate efforts in Washington to pass a free trade agreementwith Colombia.
Uribe is popular for cutting crime and sparking economicgrowth while cracking down on leftist insurgents. He had beenleaving open the possibility of another change in law thatwould allow him to run again in 2010.
The Yidis scandal comes on top of investigations linkingsome of Uribe's closest congressional allies to far-right deathsquads. Dozens of coalition members are accused of usingparamilitary thugs to intimidate voters.
The cases have helped bog down passage of the trade pactbeing blocked by U.S. Democrats concerned about Uribe's humanrights record in a country that has suffered decades ofguerrilla war funded by the cocaine trade.
At one meeting at the presidential palace, Medina saidUribe walked in and asked her to vote for the re-electionmeasure, assuring her that his administration would honour itscommitments to her.
But the government did not deliver on all its promises,which she says led her to go public.
(Reporting by Hugh Bronstein, Editing by Alan Elsner)
