A FORMER peace envoy has backed Colombia’s leftist rebels’ call for a constituent assembly to rescue the peace deal narrowly rejected in Sunday’s referendum.

In the aftermath of the disappointing result, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) said there was an “urgent” need for a “large and democratic” constituent assembly, including the other rebel groups: the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Popular Liberation Army (EPL).

It criticised President Juan Manuel Santos for imposing the peace deal the “easy way” by means of a referendum which then led to Sunday’s “crucial electoral and political setback.”

The Farc has concluded that the peace accord, the result of four years of painstaking negotiations in the Cuban capital Havana, must be implemented the “hard way,” through an assembly. But Farc commander Timoleon Jimenez, known by his nom-de-guerre Timochenko, said the the group was open to reviewing the accord.

He said: “We are filled with more enthusiasm, we promise much more, because in any case there are diverse interpretations and they must be analysed to see what must be rectified.”

Mr Jimenez said despite the No vote, the Farc would present initiatives to get the process moving again.

Former Liberal Party senator and mediator with the Farc Piedad Cordoba backed the rebel army’s plan, calling it a “great opportunity … to renew our institutions, leadership and, fundamentally, peace in the country.”

She called for a “pedagogy of peace to lead us to the building of a better society of new men and women,” putting herself at the service of Mr Santos to that end.

While Ms Cordoba acknowledged the victory of the No campaign led by her old political enemy, former president Alvaro Uribe, she said she did not see a pessimistic outlook.

“The leftists must come to an agreement and not throw in the towel,” she said.

Commenting on the clear split in support between urban and rural areas, she said city-dwellers lacked “any empathy for the war affecting the most remote regions or for the pain suffered there.”

The Farc accused Mr Uribe, “with the support of a militarist sector of the armed forces, the political and religious oligarchy,” of undermining the legitimacy of the accord.

Mr Uribe claimed the deal would grant impunity to guerillas despite clauses specifying those accused of human rights offences would stand trial.