NDI has been engaged in Colombia since 1999, contributing to political reform processes through the participation of young Colombian political leaders from traditional and emerging parties in NDI's regional Political Leadership Program. Following the adoption of extensive reforms in 2003 that made fundamental changes in the political party system, NDI established a field presence in 2005 to provide technical assistance to parties who have engaged in internal processes to improve party structures, statutes and practices.
Since then, NDI has worked in partnership with a broad range of Colombian political parties across the political spectrum to support implementation of party workplans to promote organizational strengthening and internal democracy practices, and enhance the political participation and skills of representatives of underrepresented sectors including women, Afro-Colombians, indigenous peoples and youth, working at national and departmental levels. NDI has worked to increase citizen participation in the department of Chocó, which has the highest poverty and illiteracy rates in the country. Chocó also has the country’s highest percentage of Afro-Colombians, who are a traditionally underrepresented group in Colombia’s political system. In 2009, NDI expanded this regional focus to include, in addition to Chocó, the post-conflict region of Montes de María in the departments of Bolívar and Sucre. During national and local elections since 2005, NDI has also worked to support transparent election processes as well as promote a better informed electorate by supporting candidate debates and forums between candidates and civil society organizations.
Political Context
Due to its extensive periods of constitutional civilian rule, Colombia was once considered a model democracy in the Western Hemisphere. Despite relative political stability, more recently Colombian democracy has been under threat from left-wing guerrillas as well as paramilitary groups and their successors, both with ties to the extensive narcotics industry. Although paramilitary groups began to demobilize in 2005 in exchange for lenient prison sentences, ongoing investigations have uncovered troubling and widespread ties between still-active offshoots of these illegal armed groups and the Colombian political class, leading to government prosecutions and removal of elected officials, including many members of Congress.
Established in the 19th century, Colombia’s Liberal and Conservative parties are among the oldest in the world. Their power-sharing arrangements in the 1957-1958 National Front Accords, intended to end an era of civil conflict, had the unfortunate result of fostering many of the Colombian guerrilla movements active today. These groups chafed at the lack of openness and access in the Colombian political system and resorted to violence to force change. Although constitutional reforms in 1991 decentralized the political system, additional reforms are needed to increase the responsiveness and inclusiveness of Colombia’s political institutions.
Political reforms promoted by President Álvaro Uribe during his two consecutive terms in office have overhauled the political party system in Colombia, modifying the rules and structures of parliamentary groups and advancing internal party reform measures. These reform efforts include a 2003 political reform bill, legislation addressing the rules and structures of parliamentary groups, and an additional package of constitutional amendments passed in 2009 intended in part to increase parties’ accountability for their candidates and to reduce the influence of illegal armed groups. Electoral threshold requirements have drastically reduced the number of parties, reflected in the results of the 2006 and 2010 legislative elections. Civil society, electoral agencies and political parties are continuing to educate themselves on and adjust to the new rules and regulations, and the overall structure and characterisitics of the Colombian political party system remain in transition.
The legislative and presidential elections of 2010 reflected a vote for continuity, as citizens elected Juan Manuel Santos, a former defense minister representing the pro-Uribe Party of the U, as Colombia’s new president and gave congressional majorities to the coalition that had supported the outgoing administration.
