“Dr. Abelardo’s government will need the voice of the Democratic Center in Congress,” says the former Minister of the Interior Nancy Patricia Gutierrezwho spoke of the rupture between former president Álvaro Uribe, leader of the Democratic Center, and the elected president, Abelardo De La Espriella.
Gutiérrez added that these discrepancies “overshadow the possibility of coming with fresh air to generate these reforms, to have majorities and to be able to govern” and said that if they are not overcome, “governance would be very difficult and would disappoint on both sides.”
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Who better than you, who has experienced the bullfights from the ring and the barrier, to answer us: how will the new government process its legislative projects before Congress, after what happened between the elected president and the former president happened?
I believe that these are political positions aimed at laying the foundations for what the relationship between the Executive and the Legislature should be, assuming that the president From La Espriella He said that he will have a relationship of independence and respect with Congress. There will be no negotiations, jam, transactions. Also the president Ivan Duquewhen he arrived, raised that same relationship, which undoubtedly brings a series of difficulties.
That is the first reason for curiosity for many. How can it be that these two parties, the Democratic Center (CD) and the Historical Pact, are found around the name of the president of the Senate?
Because here it was about preserving the independence of Congress. The dynamics of the Executive-Legislative relationship are different from those that occur internally in Congress in relation to all the parties that are represented, at this time 13, in the 103 seats of the Senate. All interested in having a good relationship with the president of the corporation, who is in charge of giving the floor in each session, of organizing the political control debates and the projects on the agenda.
So, beyond what may happen in the relationship with the President of the Republic and the ideological conceptions of the parties, we must have good relations with the president of the corporation, with the general secretary, with the presidents of the commissions.
You’re being very diplomatic. Former President Uribe made it clear that they have to count on him, that he exists and is the head of his caucus, whose support is required to legislate. But I think at a very high cost to his political prestige.
When the CD bench was elected to Congress in March as the largest of the opposition sectors, it put 17 senators and 30 representatives in the Chamber. I think that those who voted for Abelardo or Paloma in the first round did so thinking that it was practically the same, because in the end there is a political coincidence; and I believe that this is where the great challenge is, maintaining that coherence firm before the voters.
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Of course, all the parties are also already preparing for next year’s elections…
Of course. There is a great struggle for political power, for prerogative in what is to come. But definitely here we must also think that the parties must open themselves to political work thinking about supporting the reforms that President De La Espriella has proposed and thus supporting the dynamics of the Government, led by the president and his ministers, to guarantee what all of Colombia is waiting for: recovering the path of so many errors committed by the Petro government.
And we continue to assume that there, in some way, there is a political coincidence. That is why it is not understandable that it was broken so abruptly. Although, at least outwardly, President Uribe has said that he is going to support Abelardo’s government. We know very well that governing by decree cannot and should not. No matter how good the new government’s decrees are, President-elect Abelardo will need Congress to process laws and constitutional reforms. Can you please tell us which ones will be the most urgent?
Yes, those who think that Congress is not needed to govern are undoubtedly wrong. Of course it is needed. And just look. President De La Espriella already announced that he was going to present a constitutional reform so that Barranquilla would be the subseat of the Government, or alternate seat.
Those who think that Congress is not needed to govern are undoubtedly wrong.
Nancy Patricia Gutierrez
I think it’s fantastic that Barranquilla is the alternate capital; an admirable and enviable city, with envy of the good. But I am asking about the constitutional and law reform projects necessary to govern in the next 4 years. In health, in pensions, in tax matters, in budget matters…
I gave Barranquilla as an example because converting it into an alternate seat of Government requires a constitutional reform, which will require two rounds.
The truth of the matter is that the De La Espriella government also announced a constitutional reform to determine that, at the constitutional level, contributions to the pension system are not property of the State nor are they public, they belong to the contributors; that is, private resources. He has said that he is going to end the total peace law. Law 2272 of 2022, the total peace law, could not remain in force; The outgoing government has already filed a series of projects on which the De la Espriella government will have to establish its political position and will require the benches and the majorities. Just as the project of the possibility of frackingthe tax reform, the General Budget of the Nation which, as it arrives, arrives defunded, and will need some modifications.
Dr. Abelardo’s government will need the voice of the Democratic Center and obviously the other parties in Congress for these reforms to move forward. Otherwise, the minister’s work Rodrigo Lara It is going to be very difficult, because going vote by vote has the risk that was already experienced on July 20, when some parties come together to determine the direction of the dynamics in Congress, and that could put the Government at risk and in trouble.
Dr. Abelardo’s government will need the voice of the Democratic Center and obviously the other parties in Congress for these reforms to go ahead.
Nancy Patricia Gutierrez
Will they necessarily need to sit down and talk?
Yes. Sit down to make a composition of what the coalition that will support President Abelardo’s reform will be like there in Congress.
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Dr. Nancy Patricia: Was it absolutely necessary to give yourself that “pela” so early? Abelardo’s government will need space for everything it has to correct. Challenges like that were brought on too soon. Although they have done everything to avoid accepting that defeat… They have skillfully turned it around to say that this supposedly confirms the independence of Congress and the Executive. Was that ’round’ necessary?
Ultimately, those fights are unnecessary. I repeat: those of us who voted for the Democratic Center in Congress and in the second round for Abelardo, we need that work unit to exist so that the reforms can move forward.
These discrepancies, these disputes, which end up being for electoral purposes, should not transcend the Government, because they overshadow the possibility of arriving with fresh air to generate these reforms, to have the majorities and to be able to govern. Otherwise, governance would be very difficult and would disappoint from both sides. The two political sectors of the right and the center-right or the new right, whatever you want to call it, would lose out. But the country is waiting.
Many people from the Democratic Center went over to Abelardo…
Beyond those small political differences between people who were in the CD and went over to Abelardo, what will happen later, although perhaps not for now, will be a large center-right bloc that will give answers to the majorities who trust them.
I say goodbye with a question. Who is the one who has to do what? Who has to go where who? Should Abelardo approach Uribe and alleviate so many sensitivities that this confrontation left behind, or the other way around?
The institutional dynamics do leave responsibility to two fundamental figures. On one side, the president of Congress, who already has a legitimate investiture, and on the other the Minister of the Interior. There must be a diplomatic and political task within the Legislature, with the political parties, with the communities. And obviously I hope President Abelardo meets soon and has a coffee with President Uribe, that would do the country good.
I think one is not enough. Several coffees will be needed.
Or a tray paisa, one of those that a few months ago, when Dr. Abelardo was a candidate, they had in Medellín. Let them repeat it and be able to agree. Also, in honor of Antioquia, which entrusted a lot to President Abelardo.
