Uribe

BOGOTA (Reuters):

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, pressured by a scandal linking some of his allies to illegal right-wing militias, said yesterday he wants to stop corrupt lawmakers using family members to perpetuate their power.

Uribe's proposed constitutional amendment would stop children, spouses and siblings of legislators convicted of collusion with criminal organisations from running for Congress.

Colombian lawmakers convicted of corruption traditionally pass their support to family members who then win their seats.

"The bill is intended to strengthen political parties and stop criminals and terrorists from sub-orning the will of voters," a presidential statement said.

Eight members of Congress from Uribe's governing coalition are in jail awaiting trial for financing and otherwise supporting paramilitary drug smugglers guilty of some of the worst atrocities of this Andean country's four-decade-old guerrilla war.

Uribe told local radio the law would apply to politicians tied to any illegal group, not just those involved in the "para-political" scandal rocking his government.

No protection for innocent

The measure is opposed by some lawmakers who say it would unjustly punish candidates who have com-mitted no crime.

The opposition Polo Democratico party, which hopes to use the para-political scandal to gain ground in provincial elections in October, called the bill unconstitutional.

Others predicted it would pass.

"It is a tough proposal because it would force innocent individuals to answer for others, but we will accept it," said Julio Manzur, chief of the Uribe-friendly Conservative party.

Uribe was re-elected last year and remains popular for cutting crime as part of his U.S.-backed crackdown on leftist rebels.

The paramilitary groups were formed in the 1980s to protect private property from the rebels. By the late 1990s the fight between the two groups, both labelled terrorists by Washington, had become little more than a turf war over Colombia's multibillion-dollar cocaine trade.