From militancy to politics

Colombia's leftist Farc rebels seek political rebirth yesterday as they move to transform into a party to seek elected office after disarming to end a half-century war.

About 1,000 delegates from the freshly demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia will launch a founding congress to choose their political representatives.

They will choose a name for the party and candidates to run in next year's general elections.

"We are going to define the character of the political party that we aspire to build," former guerrilla commander Carlos Antonio Lozada told AFP.

He said they will also shape "its structure and name the leaders, at least at national level."

Another former commander of the force, Ivan Marquez, said he expected the movement to call itself the Alternative Revolutionary Force of Colombia.

However, the overall FARC leader Rodrigo Londono canvassed opinion on Twitter and many respondents said they favored the name "New Colombia."

Conflict analyst Frederic Masse of Bogota's Externado University said the debate reflected a "dilemma" in the movement.

"Some want to keep the word 'revolutionary' while others want to change that to show that this is a new start," Masse said.

Regardless of how many votes they may win, the peace deal signed with the government last year guarantees the new party five seats in each of the two legislative chambers for two terms.

Londono has ruled out the new party fielding a presidential candidate.

The communist Farc formed in 1964 from a peasant uprising for rural land rights.

After 53 years of attacks and kidnappings, the Farc in its new form faces a struggle for acceptance. Recent polls indicate that more than 80 percent of Colombians are opposed to it.