The Colombian guerrilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) wishes to be given seats in Congress without being elected.

This demand was issued to the Colombian government on Saturday, Nov. 7, via a press release translated by PanAm Post. The FARC, which also seeks to avoid extradition, stressed that they won't sign a peace agreement after 50 years of conflict unless the government acquiesces to their demands.

The group's press release demands that the government directly appoint FARC members to positions not just in Congress, but in local Councils and municipal assemblies during at least two four-year terms. They also urges the state to "finance the political movement that will emerge after the peace process with 10 percent more public funds than those available to other parties," PanAm Post further reported.

Opposition Senator Alfredo Rangel of the Democratic Center, which is former President álvaro Uribe's party, told the PanAm Post that letting the FARC be involved in politics would be "unacceptable," because they are "a criminal organization that has recruited kids and is responsible for slavery, massacres, forced displacements, and kidnappings."

Rangel said that the FARC "are trying to impose a Castro-Chavista communist regime in Colombia," because, "some 50 years ago, they decided to be part of the armed wing of the Communist Party," the news outlet added.

On the other hand, Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo said that the "government believes that FARC members' political participation is crucial" and that is "the ultimate goal of this negotiation," PanAm Post noted.

Rangel's belief about the FARC's political involvement is backed by Colombians surveyed by pollster Cifras y Conceptos, PanAm Post wrote. The poll, which was issued on Nov. 5, indicate that 71 percent of Colombians refused the guerilla group's political participation, and 80 percent are against the FARC's proposal of congressional seats being directly given to guerrilla members.

FARC Leader Orders His Group to Stop Buying Guns

Rodrigo Londono Echeverri, known as Timochenko and FARC's leader, recently announced that he has ordered the group to stop purchasing guns and ammunition in September, BBC reported. The move was done to demonstrate the left-wing group's commitment to lessen its conflict with the Colombian army.

FARC and the Colombian government have been engaged in peace talks for almost three years, BBC wrote. The agreement was launched in Havana, Cuba in Nov. 2012.

Timochenko's announcement also said that his group and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos have agreed on four broad points on the agenda: the political participation of the rebels, land rights, drug trafficking, and transitional justice, the news outlet listed. Both groups are expecting to sign an agreement in March.