Amidst the political chaos of Pedro’s government, the spirit of the Constituent Assembly appears

The storm passing through Congress, among other reasons due to the risk of shipwreck of President Gustavo Pedro’s reforms, has led one sector of the historic agreement to dust off an old idea that sounds alarm bells: the call for a Constituent Assembly to reform the Constitution and the structure of the state. It was a plan that began to force its way through the halls of Congress.

Christian leader Alfredo Saade, the former presidential candidate of the Historic Alliance, who first put the issue on the table, told Semana: “Congress must be shut down and a referendum must be held to pave the way for a Constituent Assembly.” His proposal comes as a result of a difficult situation with the governing coalition, which could reject Pedro’s ambitious legislative package.

Sade’s proposal sparked reactions, and until now, Casa de Narino has remained silent. President and Vice President Francia Marquez have not addressed the issue, while opposition parties are demanding a clear statement from the president to address any questions.

In the order of Petrism, this idea is not new. For example, in February 2018, then-candidate Pedro, no doubt familiar with this approach to carry out his proposals for change, the same coalition parties refuse to support because they consider them dangerous for the country: ” I propose that a regionalized and pluralistic system do the reforms that the Constitution of 1991 did not do. .

But years later, in December 2021, during the latest presidential campaign, Pedro changed his mind. “Why are we going to undo what we have done? The 1991 constitution enables us to make changes in Colombia,” he said. However, these changes have not been implemented and all reforms have been red-lighted by Congress.

Saade said he had not received a call from the president either supporting or rejecting his proposal. For this reason, committees began to be set up in the departments with the aim of collecting 10 million signatures to demand a referendum.

In opposition, they maintain that the Christian preacher does not act alone, but rather can set the object to measure the temperature. Congressmen from the Liberal Party, Law U and Compeo Radical did not rule out that the president himself is cultivating a chaotic environment in front of Congress, to call for a referendum and approve his reforms through a constituent assembly.

One danger is that the door to presidential reelection is open and the structure of government is reshaped to give the executive more power to the detriment of the legislative and judicial branches. So far, the Congress has blocked the government’s plans. “Healthcare reform is ideological, creates conflict, confusion, and seeks to divide the country between those who are with it and those who are not,” said Senator David Luna of Cambio Radical.

Divided opinions

Prior to the idea of ​​a block, there are different stages in the historical contract. Congressman Alejandro Ocampo said he opposes the initiative, at least for now. However, he issued a warning: “If the expression of the primary constituency is not respected and they want to change our minds through the maneuvers of the Congress and political parties, we will eventually form a constituency.”

Senator Piedad Córdoba, one of Health Minister Carolina Gorcho’s staunch defenders, further fueled the rumours. “A new political reform requires a National Constituent Assembly,” he said, adding that the “inability of the Congress to lead structural changes in political matters” was evident.

There have been more silent voices since the historic treaty, like Congressman Heraclito Landinus. “The representative democracy of the 1991 Constitution has its democratic essence in the election of Congress. Ignoring the Legislature means ignoring the Constitution and the sovereignty of the people. “Proposing a block now is something outside of all institutional channels,” Ladinez warned.

This time, in groups Share it No one in the historic treaty spoke of convening a Constituent Assembly. Those familiar with democratic processes know that it is not that simple. Additionally, the political moment is not favorable for the government as the initiative must go through Congress. If the Casa de Nariño does not reach a consensus for political reform, it will do even less for an initiative that ends up with the withdrawal of the legislature.

In that sense, some opposition leaders have said that the referendum, which includes the question of dissolving Congress, should also ask whether the country agrees to change the president. This is precisely what Horacio Cerba said in the late 1990s when former President Andres Pastrana proposed through his then-minister Fabio Valencia Cosio to recall Congress.

The idea of ​​the Constituent Assembly should also be reviewed by the Constitutional Court. Likewise, a referendum requires electoral logistics and the date of its call in a referendum does not coincide with any scheduled election. That means investing more than 100,000 million pesos in a country with a tight economy.

Faced with this difficult situation, President Pedro will often take a less thorny path: understand that even if he enters the Nariño House with more than 11 million votes, he will need unanimity on his reforms to secure a majority in Congress.

As far as the government is concerned, that has not happened. Less than a month later, political reform has failed in the Senate’s first committee and health care reform threatens to sink into the chamber’s seventh committee without even getting its first debate. Pedro fears that the crisis and collapse of political reform will repeat itself not only in health, but also in labor, pensions, submission laws and prison humanization laws.

In recent days, liberals, conservatives and Law U have broken with Casa de Narino over health care reform. In this situation, the President ordered to adjust the draft of the plan, which included the requests of the director of La U, Dilian Francisca Toro, and the director of the Conservative Party, Efrain Cepeda.

The government intends to disrupt the unity of the Liberal Party and bring many senators and representatives to its side, as happened in the presidential campaign.

If his strategy fails after Easter and health care reform sinks, the president will resort to his plan B: get citizens into the streets. “We need to emphasize social mobilization,” many congressmen agree. But if nothing works, will they take the idea of ​​a batch seriously? The country should be alert.