The impossibility of securing the necessary majorities is running out of time for the Colombian government to carry out its reform projects two months before the end of the second legislative period, which would force him to process the initiatives again at the beginning of August, when Congress returns to full session.
“The legislative process of the national government's reforms is mostly difficult, and the relationship between Petro and Congress is broken, they are already at a tipping point of exhaustion,” he explained to the Voice of America Alejandro Alvarado, coordinator of the Governance and Democracy line of the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation, Pares.
Despite the difficulties, President Gustavo Petro has been insistent on continuing with his projects, as have senators from the ruling party, who believe that despite the obstacles and difficulties in reaching the necessary majorities, initiatives such as the proposal for the health system could be saved and even approved before next June 20.
“We must review the times, we believe that there will be no problem with the pension reform, we are going to fight to convince our colleagues in the Senate so that this comes to a successful conclusion and benefits all Colombians and the health reform is there.” “To say it clearly, we are subject to what happens in plenary and that the appeal takes effect,” he told the VOA Ferney Silva Idrobo, senator of the Historical Pact, the coalition of ruling parties.
Although the reform of the Health system was shelved days ago, politicians such as Senator Silva appealed under article 166 of Law 5 of the Constitution to resume the discussion on the issue.
“We are waiting for it to be scheduled through a special commission and the appeal is reviewed and it goes to plenary to be voted on (…) there it is determined whether the health reform is revived or it is definitively sunk,” explained the parliamentarian. Silva, who supports President Petro's policies.
However, opposition politicians consider that the collapse of the health system reform project was necessary as they considered that the proposal would not contribute to improving the current system.
“It is a project that has never achieved sufficient legitimacy, neither in political terms nor in social terms. We denounce how the text was constructed with our backs to patients, doctors and academics,” he assured the VOA, Andrés Forero, representative to the Chamber for the Democratic Center, one of the main opposition parties. “Let us remember that this project began the breakdown of his ministerial cabinet and after his government collusion and took away a large part of his governability, we regret that the president did not take note of what happened.”
On Wednesday, the president of the Senate, Iván Name, adjourned the session when several articles of the pension reform were being discussed, alleging accusations by Petro against the group of senators who voted in favor of shelving the Health reform.
“President Petro's statement is inadmissible, according to which the Seventh Commission of the Senate of the Republic decided to archive the health reform bill under illegal and corrupt influences. The president's insulting and slanderous statements attack the dignity held by all members of this legislative cell,” Name said.
Petro responded in his account on X: “The majority of the Senate can always appeal the decision of the president of the Senate if the president sabotages the pension reform; The sabotage occurs because the majority of the Senate wants to sink the pension reform; That is to say, they do not want the elderly men and women who work on the streets and are dying of sadness due to the indolence of society to receive a decent pension bonus.”
Petro has also contemplated the possibility of convene a national constituent assembly if his social reforms are not approved, while analysts consulted by the VOA indicate that Time is running out for the legislature to discuss projects that seek to transform the labor and pension system. In turn, experts consider that the new legislative period in August could be marked by an agenda “in advance of the 2026 electoral process.”
In that order, Alvarado added that “within a couple of months the country will experience an untimely start to the 2026 electoral process and obviously begin any procedure in the legislature at this time, there is simply no time to discuss the reforms.”
With the tight times, and with the need to overcome the necessary debates before June 20, for Carlos Felipe Holguín, researcher at the Labor Observatory of the Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, the main obstacle is the marked “confrontations” between the government and the opposition that make it difficult to find support to secure the necessary votes.
“In political matters, the government is going through a quite complicated situation within the legislative agenda, this varies between the senate and the chamber, but the government does not have the clear majorities to approve these reforms, this was clearly seen with the collapse of the reform to health,” Holguín highlighted.
Alvarado adds that beyond the lack of the necessary consensus, the tight schedule and the deadlines to comply with the plans to carry out the reforms, the government “failed” in the communication plans about “what were the value objectives of the reforms.”
“Many of the reform announcements were not ready, so going through the congress route was going to be very difficult because the congress has completely inefficient work periods unlike the average Colombian because there they work eight months a year and well, definitely They were not with the same level of concern and urgency as the national government, so it could be anticipated that it was going to be a very complex path to be able to carry out their agenda,” he concluded.
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