AP: Monday, June 1, 1998; 5:27 p.m. EDT

                  Independents Jolt Colombia Politics
                  By Jared Kotler
                  Associated Press Writer
                  -----------------------------------

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Although she lost her bid to become Colombia's
first female president, Noemi Sanin jolted the two-party system that has
dominated the nation's politics for more than a century.  Hers was the
first independent candidacy to seriously challenge the Liberal and
Conservative parties' power monopoly, giving Sanin unprecedented 
influence over the country's political future.

The No. 1 question today in Colombia is ``What will Sanin do?''

A former Conservative and foreign minister, Sanin placed third in Sunday's
first round behind Liberal Horacio Serpa and Conservative Andres Pastrana.
Now, Serpa and Pastrana, each of whom got 35 percent of the vote, will be
courting the 2.8 million voters, or 27 percent of the electorate, that backed the 
upstart Sanin.

``They are drooling over Noemi's votes,'' said Andres Franco, a Javeriana
University political analyst.

In speeches Sunday, both Serpa and Pastrana made thinly disguised overtures
to Sanin voters, who analysts say will go mainly to Pastrana.  Sanin, one
of 15 children from a middle-class family, has refused to endorse either
man.  `It would be wrong for me to tell the millions of Colombians who
voted for me whom they should vote for in the second round, because their
very nature is independent,'' Sanin said after recognizing defeat Sunday.

But even refusing the role of kingmaker, Sanin may wield tremendous 
power for someone who just lost an election.  At minimum, analysts say, she 
has toppled gender barriers and tapped into social changes that may threaten
the two-party system in this violence-wracked country, where politicians
must grapple with a 34-year-old leftist insurgency, drug traffickers and
rampant corruption.

 ``Noemi Sanin has demonstrated that soon a woman will become 
president,'' said Pastrana.

Chief campaign advisor Miguel Silva said Sanin's media-based campaign
resonated among a booming urban population that clamors for change and
refuses to take instructions from party machines.

Indeed, Sanin won the vote in Bogota and the country's next-largest cities,
Cali and Medellin.

She attracted far fewer votes in the rural heartland, which holds about
two-thirds of the vote and where the party machines are strongest.  ``In
the small towns, you still need a party. You need a political organization,'' 
said Silva.

Previous attempts to breathe fresh air into the two-party structure have
been squashed or fizzled out.  But even if she is up against history, Sanin
is determined to make her mark.

``We will become the political conscience of the nation, demanding a fight
against corruption, economic recovery and the search for peace,'' Sanin
said Sunday.