Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has asked Congress to schedule a referendum mandating a new presidential election.

This comes after the Supreme Court asked the country's constitutional court to investigate the legality of his re-election in 2006.

It follows the conviction of a former politician who took a bribe to support the constitutional reform which granted Mr Uribe an unprecedented second term.

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"I am going to convene Congress so that it can produce as swiftly as possible legislation on a referendum, that would call the people to repeat the 2006 presidential election," Mr Uribe said in a nationally broadcast radio and television address.

The bribery allegations date back to 2004, when a constitutional change approved by Congress eliminated the rule limiting Colombia's presidents to one term in office.

Mr Uribe won re-election in 2006 by a wide margin.

(BBC)

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