Parliamentary win boosts Colombian President's chances of reelection
Colombian President Alvaro Uribegained a majority in Congress in the country's parliamentary elections held on Sunday, as the ruling coalition won far more seats in the Senate than the opposition.

The results apparently boosted chances of Uribe winning a second term in May. Over 26 million qualified voters selected 102 members to the Senate and 166 members to the House of Representatives out of 2,800 candidates.

With 70 percent of the votes counted, a seven-party coalition loyal to Alvaro Uribe, the 53-year-old incumbent Colombian president, was poised to control at least 61 seats in the Senate, a clear majority.

Uribe's Party of the U led the Senate race with 20 seats, followed by his allies the Conservatives and Radical Change with 18 and 15 seats respectively.

The opposition Liberal Party pocketed 17 Senate seats, with the other main opposition group Democratic Pole winning 11. Early results showed parties supporting Uribe also had similar gains in the House of Representatives, the lower house. The elections were marred by a high absence rate amid threats of violence from the rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Preliminary official statistics showed that over 66 percent of the eligible voters did not vote, a rate higher than in previous parliamentary elections.

In many cases the turnout was much lower still. In the Corferias area of Bogota, only 80 of the 1,200 registered voters turned up.

The FARC with 17,000 militants which had staged attacks in the weeks prior to the vote, killing some 35 people, was not reported to have conducted substantial attacks during the parliamentary polls as it had threatened. Authorities reported no victims in Sunday's elections in 1,100 municipalities.

However, a power blackout was reported in five provinces along the northern coast on the election day and most blackout areas were still in darkness.

The cause of the blackout was still unclear. Authorities said sabotage could not be ruled out.

President Uribe had urged his compatriots not to be intimidated by the rebels and to make a massive showing at the polls, saying "voting is the best reply that we Colombians have to the violence."

Uribe was sworn in as the country's president four years ago with a pledge that he would take tough measures against the rebels, who in turn rejected negotiations with his government.