An unexpected debate on the Constitution opened in Colombia with the president’s proposal Gustavo Petro of convene a national constituent assembly given the difficulty in getting Congress to approve its reforms.
This was recognized this Saturday by the president himself on the social network X where he referred to the proposal he presented on Friday in Cali (southwest). “The proposal for a Constituent Assembly will spark a national debate. “It’s good that it is so.” the president stated when sharing the speech in which he made the announcement.
On Friday in Puerto Resistencia, a sector of Cali (southwest) that was the epicenter of the 2021 social protests, during a mobilization of indigenous people who support him, Petro explained why for him the national constituent assembly is necessary.
Social reforms
“In my Government we are open to dialogue, but without naivety. If this possibility of a popularly elected Government in the middle of this State and under the Constitution of Colombia cannot apply the Constitution because they surround it not to apply it and prevent it, If the institutions that we have in Colombia today are not capable of living up to the social reforms that the people decreed through their vote (…) then Colombia has to go to a National Constituent Assembly“he said in his speech.
“The National Constituent Assembly must transform the institutions so that they obey the people their mandate of peace and justice, which in Colombia is easy to achieve. Colombia does not have to kneel, the 2022 victory is respected and the Assembly must transform the institutions,” he added.
protests
The 2021 protests were the starting point of the nonconformity that led Petro to win the 2022 elections and in them, The protesters, mostly young people, demanded profound social changes in the country, a banner that the current president took up.
It is the first time that Petro suggests modifying the Magna Carta. He has previously asked his voters to take to the streets to pressure Congress. According to sectors of the ruling party, the national government was being humiliated by the country’s corrupt politicians who did not allow work for the most needy populations and that is why the national constituent assembly was necessary.
The government aims to reduce private participation in the provision of health services and pension payments, as well as expand benefits to workers. But Petro lost the majorities in the Legislature a few months after his inauguration.
Uribeism opposes
Criticism came from the shores of Uribism, as expected from the main force on the right, the newspaper reported. The country from Spain. The senator Maria Fernanda Cabal, one of the most visible opponents of the Government in Congress, wrote: “Petro is a liar and radical leftist: yesterday he denied plans for a Constituent Assembly; Today he confesses his intention to force it, promoting reforms that will only bring misery and desolation. Your colleague and partner Paloma Valencia He also spoke: “This Government’s spirit of destruction has no limit. Now President Petro threatens that, if the reforms are not approved, there will be a Constituent Assembly. Neither Constituent, nor destruction.”
The current Constitution of Colombia, written in 1991, was the result of the demobilization of the M-19 guerrilla, to which Petro belonged in his youth. Petro and several of the M-19 leaders were part of the assembly that was convened during the administration of César Gaviria and that concluded in the creation of the Political Constitution that remains in force today.
A difficult task
It will not be easy for Petro to reform the constitution. First, you must obtain a law that enables the call to convene the Assembly with a simple majority in both chambers. of Congress, and in both venues the ruling party is in a minority. Not only that: Petro was very clear in saying that the call is due to the fact that Congress is stopping his reform program, and now he depends on that same Congress to enable an Assembly that promotes the same reforms that were stopped or rejected on the premises. legislative.
If he managed to overcome this obstacle, for which Petro is betting on the influence of popular mobilizations, A hypothetical call by Congress to a new Constituent Assembly would have to be approved in an election by a third of the electoral roll.
Currently, about 39 million Colombians are able to vote, according to data provided by the National Registry in October 2023. Therefore About 13 million positive votes would be needed for the initiative to prosper. If the call is approved, Congress must call a new call to elect the constituents. While the Assembly is in session, Congress will not be able to make any modification to the Colombian constitution.
The Shepherd Alfredo Show, former presidential candidate for the Historical Pact and ally of Petro, called to support the initiative to reform the constitution. “Let a people rise up, to popular power,” he wrote on social networks. “I invite the Front Line, the women, to rise up, I invite the men to rise up, those men of courage, the young people Get up for a constituent now!”.
