Bogota, Muharram 04, 1438, October 05, 2016, SPA -- The decision whether to renegotiate the peace deal rejected by Colombians in a referendum lies with the FARC rebel group, not the government, Colombia's foreign minister said Tuesday, according to dpa. Maria Angela Holguin reminded reporters in Bogota that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia had said before Sunday's referendum that they would not renegotiate the deal, signed September 26 after nearly four years of talks. "The decision [to renegotiate] is not the government's [to make]," she said. Colombians voted narrowly against the peace accord, 50.2 per cent to 49.8 per cent, in a result that took the government and FARC by surprise. Only 37 per cent of eligible voters took part. Opponents of the deal said it conceded too much to FARC, including guaranteed seats in Congress and reduced sentences for crimes committed during the country's more than five decades of war. Negotiators for the Colombian government were meeting Tuesday with FARC members in Havana to discuss the next steps. Upon their return, President Juan Manuel Santos planned to meet with opposition leaders who campaigned against the peace deal, Holguin said. The vote, called by Santos to give a popular stamp of approval to the historic peace deal, has embarrassed the president and shaken up his government. His education minister stepped down Tuesday, and Colombian news media reported Holguin and five other cabinet ministers had offered their resignations. Still, the obstacles to implementing the peace accord could in fact be more political than legal, as the referendum was not required by law to approve the peace accord, experts said. In theory, analysts say it could still be implemented despite the 'no' vote, either by Congress or by a constitutional convention convened to amend the country's constitution. --SPA 02:46 LOCAL TIME 23:46 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w