SUPPORT FADING FOR COLOMBIA'S EMBATTLED LEADER.

Byline: Tim Johnson Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

A consensus emerged Thursday that President Ernesto Samper, crippled by a flood of charges that he was elected with drug money from the Cali Cartel, may not be able to hang onto power much longer.

"Get ready, because it's a matter of days," said a senior government official, who spoke on condition he not be named.

Support eroded even within Samper's own Liberal Party, and the opposition Conservative Party ordered its members to withdraw from a power-sharing accord that gives them several Cabinet portfolios and foreign embassy posts.

Sen. Fabio Valencia, a Conservative Party leader, sent a letter to party members Thursday ordering them to quit the government. Transport Minister Juan Gomez Martinez, a Conservative, drew up his letter of resignation. It was unclear whether a second Conservative, Foreign Trade Minister Luis Alfredo Ramos, would follow suit.

A tide of opposition rose to challenge Samper's plan to submit his government to a national referendum. The attorney general, chief prosecutor, student leaders, business tycoons, and dozens of opinion makers rejected the proposal. Some said it was an attempt by Samper to hang onto the presidency.

Former President Alfonso Lopez Michelson, a veteran of Samper's party, said a referendum "would engender a conflict close to civil war."

A sense of uncertainty lay heavy over Colombia. Ever since he won a narrow election triumph in August 1994, Samper has been hounded by charges that the victory was due to a last-minute campaign infusion of as much as $6 million from the Cali Cartel. Four people, including his campaign manager and treasurer, have confirmed parts of the story.

The crisis, which has lingered for months, exploded this week when Fernando Botero, the campaign manager, said "Samper knew" about the drug cash and was lying to cover it up.