Colombian President Alvaro Uribe promised to respect the results of a referendum he promoted as vital to crack down on corruption and spur the economy, as provisional figures indicate voters rejected the measures.
In a speech to the nation late Wednesday, Uribe said that regardless of the outcome, the weekend vote in itself was a clear sign that democracy in the war-torn country was prevailing over violence.
"It is a demonstration of the value of votes over bullets," he said in his first comments since Saturday's vote.
Despite a wave of guerrilla attacks that left 13 people dead, around 6 million voters cast ballots.
Although the final outcome will not be known until counting finishes later this week, preliminary results show the government failed to obtain enough votes to pass 11 of the 15 points on the referendum.
"The government will respect the results of the referendum and push ahead with the necessary reforms that are not opposed by the people," he said.
The four points that still stood a chance of being approved in the late vote-counting included a measure that would prevent convicted criminals from holding or running for public office.
Among the measures Colombians rejected was one that would have frozen most state salaries for at least two years and another capping public pensions.
Uribe had hoped to use the austerity package to save US$7 billion over seven years, in part to help pay for his war on leftist rebels.
With the referendum's failure, Uribe on Wednesday outlined alternative proposals to put the country's finances in order, including tax hikes and cuts in state payrolls. He vowed not to reduce spending on key social programs, however.
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