Bogota, Oct 27: Colombians voted for new leaders in Bogota and other cities a day after a violence-marred referendum in which a reform plan backed by President Alvaro Uribe appeared to fail. Amid ongoing civil strife and deepening poverty, yesterday's vote to fill thousand of seats for mayors and other local officials ended at 2.30 am IST. It followed a referendum Saturday on a series of measures aimed at fighting corruption.

The 15 proposals appeared headed for failure due to low turnout. Even though they were supported by a heavy majority of those who voted, the total number of "yes" votes were short of the 25 percent of Colombia's 26 million eligible voters needed to pass, according to an official count, which was 98-percent complete. Saturday's voting was marred by violence blamed on leftist groups that had threatened to disrupt the elections. At least 13 people were killed in attacks, 12 election monitors were kidnapped and authorities reported 55 cases of armed intimidation at the polls, despite a mobilization of 300,000 troops protecting candidates and polling places.

Defence Minister Martha Lucia Ramirez however acknowledged "the hope was that the turnout would be strong; we thought that would be Colombians response at such an important time for the country.

Bureau Report