Presidential candidates propose to fight corruption within their ranks

Several candidates for the 2010 presidential election Tuesday vowed there will be no corruption or influence of illegal armed groups in their campaigns.

Presidential hopeful Andrés Felipe Arias, pledged that if chosen as the sole candidate of the Conservative Party, his campaign will not receive support from paramilitaries or other unlawful groups.

"It's part of the [revamping] and transparency that we have to give this election process, and [that excludes] not only paramilitaries but drug traffickers in general," Arias told W Radio.

Arias called on opposition groups such as the Polo Democratico to refuse support from other countries that could be disguised as contributions from the FARC.

"I urge that sectors of the Polo Democratico do the same with money coming from other countries [such as] Venezuela, and that the same influence of the FARC can be vetoed by any political campaign."

Former mayor of Bogota Enrique Peñalosa said that 'parapolitics' is the extreme of corruption in Colombia, but also asked that the buying of votes and other forms of corruption not be discounted.

"The problem is that there is a form of politics carried out by countertransference of money, where posts are given not to the most qualified people but to those who have offered some kind of support, [and the belief that this is the best way to work]."

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