World Cup Could Affect
Colombia Election Turnout
(Reuters) - Presidential hopeful Juan Manuel
Santos' commanding lead before Colombia's
June 20 election may cause some voters to
skip the ballot and watch World Cup matches
instead.
The former defense minister is set to take
the Andean nation's highest office, beating
eccentric, ex-mathematics professor Antanas
Mockus on Sunday after winning a first round
vote last month by 25 points.
Opinion polls show Santos, scion of a
wealthy Bogota family, with a huge lead
ahead of the run-off, mostly thanks to
incumbent President Alvaro Uribe's
popularity because of his crackdown on
Marxist guerrillas and a boom in investment.
"The World Cup is very important, but we
have many days to watch the matches. I ask
my compatriots to sacrifice the games just
for a moment and get out to vote," Uribe
told reporters.
Nearly 50 percent of 30 million eligible
voters cast ballots during the May 30 first
round presidential poll, but analysts say
that figure could drop by 8 percent to 10
percent because of Santos's lead and the
World Cup.
Voters will have to decide whether to watch
Brazil versus Ivory Coast at 1330 local time
(1430 EDT) and Italy against New Zealand at
0900 (1000 EDT), or take part in the
election.
"I believe there is the possibility voter
turnout will be lower. Soccer could make
voting go down," Carlos Ariel Sanchez, head
of the national registry, told a local paper
this month.
"Normally (large numbers of voters) come out
in the afternoon, but this day it could be
in the morning between one game and the
other."
SANTOS VERSUS MOCKUS
Whoever wins will inherit a nation much
safer than in 2002 when Uribe came to power.
There has also been a boom in energy
investment in Latin America's No. 4 oil
producer.
But the next leader must tackle one of the
region's highest unemployment rates.
Mockus and Santos have vowed to continue
Uribe's tough stance on leftist guerrillas
who have been battered by a U.S.-backed
military offensive since Uribe was elected
to his first of two terms eight years ago.
There is likely to be little impact on the
local peso currency or TES bonds since most
market players have already factored in a
victory by Santos -- who is seen as being
the most loyal to Uribe's pro-investment
policies.
"Mockus ... will struggle to gather steam as
voters lack incentives to vote in an
increasingly one-sided and predictable
contest," Patrick Esteruelas of Eurasia
Group said in a note.
Santos' campaign has also been boosted by
endorsements from parties whose candidates
lost in the first round. In an election that
many see as a done deal, Colombians may be
more interested in Sunday's contests on the
soccer field.
"There's going to be an absolutely
interesting contest with the soccer
matches," Mockus told a local newspaper.
"Who is more capable of capturing the vote,
the Santistas or the Mokistas?"tinue in the
way of progress - social progress, economic
progress - and fighting all rebel groups." |
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