By having a referendum in the spring, President Alvaro Uribe had hoped to enable himself to be re-elected once again. The resulting dispute has marked political developments in Colombia since late 2008, as there was hardly any discussion of practical politics. According to national estimates, there was little doubt that Uribe would be elected by a vast majority in the first round of elections. He had been in office since 2002, and his new candidacy dangled like a sword of Damocles over every party’s strategic considerations for selecting candidates.