Iván Cepeda called on the political center to dialogue. Through a tweet yesterday morning, the left-wing candidate reiterated his intention to approach this sector, which is one of the objectives in his attempt to grow with a view to the second presidential round. “My message to the political center” was the title of the brief statement.
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Iván Cepeda called on the political center to dialogue. Through a tweet yesterday morning, the left-wing candidate reiterated his intention to approach this sector, which is one of the objectives in his attempt to grow with a view to the second presidential round. “My message to the political center” was the title of the brief statement.
“I am ready to dialogue, as I have been doing, with sectors of the political center whom I respect and recognize. I understand the criticism, in many cases fair, of what we have done in these four years,” said Cepeda, who opened the door to making a mea culpa in the face of the errors and bad practices that Gustavo Petro’s government has had during these four years.
In this sense, he pointed out that the progress that the current administration has achieved should also be highlighted: “Our task is, in a concerted manner, to correct the situation where it needs to be done, and to move decisively forward in what has been done well.” Finally, he stated that his intention to speak is not a mere campaign exercise: “My willingness to dialogue is not formal. I am ready to listen carefully to arguments and look for alternatives that unify us as a country and nation.”
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Cepeda’s message has had different responses. Some sectors of opposition to Gustavo Petro’s government, such as the representative and senator-elect Andrés Forero, described the measure as “false moderation”, especially given the various tweets of President Gustavo Petro during the weekend, in which he has launched harsh comments against different sectors.
Other sectors of the center also had a harsh reaction and questioned Cepeda for the lack of self-criticism on issues such as health reform, corruption in the current administration and an alleged ambiguity regarding the issue of the constituent assembly, whose attempt to seek it he suspended, but it remains among the points of his government plan.
However, other figures such as Claudia López highlighted the message, although at the same time they drew attention to the position of the president and that of the candidate who seeks to continue his political project. “Iván, I value this message and that the initiative of the constituent committee promoting the constituent assembly has been dismantled,” said the former candidate, who has been one of the few who from the moment of the defeat have directly addressed Cepeda to assume a greater leadership role in her own campaign.
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On that path, López said: “This week has made it clear to me that a loud and inevitable dissonance will remain between your positions and those of the President. He thinks about his future as a former president. You must assume leadership of your campaign and the future of the country.”
López also asked the candidate for greater clarity about what issues he considers should be changed compared to the current government: “It would be useful if you could publicly tell us what errors and how you propose to correct them and what successes you propose to deepen through the national agreement that you have proposed.”
Although it is true that this is the first time that the candidate proposes a direct dialogue with the center, during the week he has tried to build bridges with this political sector. In the campaign they are aware that the only way to cut Abelardo de la Espriella’s advantage is by reaching these sectors. That is why it was decided to suspend the search for a constituent assembly.
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As a reaction to Sergio Fajardo’s decalogue, in which he indicated that the next president of Colombia must close the door to a constituent assembly, the candidate decided to stop seeking the convening of a constituent assembly, for the moment. In that same message, he made a first call to the center to dialogue: “It is the moment of unity, of concertation, the moment of meeting with the political center, democratic liberalism and the reformist sectors.”
Beyond Claudia López, other center figures such as Sergio Fajardo and Juan Daniel Oviedo have preferred to mark more distance from Cepeda and the left-wing campaign. Both have preferred to put doubts and questions about the two candidates on the tables and have not made known possible support for any of the two in contention.
Precisely, in dialogue with EL TIEMPO, Fajardo drew attention to the lack of clarity regarding the decision not to continue seeking a constituent assembly. “The message is not clear. Is it suspended or is it over? We, for more than a month, almost two months, have said: we have to protect the Constitution of ’91, which gives us the tools to make the social transformations that Colombia needs. But a constituent assembly is a declaration of war,” he said.
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Experts have pointed out the need for Cepeda to grow within the center to have a chance in the second presidential round. However, at the same time they warn of the possibility of losing votes to the left-wing bases that are distant from said political sector.
Other messages from Cepeda
Over the weekend, the left-wing candidate tried to reactivate his campaign with several statements. On the one hand, he once again insisted on the need to have at least one debate with Abelardo de la Espriella. On the other hand, he also made harsh comments in which he accused his rival’s campaign of supposedly buying votes. This was questioned, since he did not provide evidence of his allegations and instead maintains his position of not making an official statement of recognition of the first round results, already certified by the scrutiny.
This is how the investigations into Miguel Uribe’s crime are going. Photo:
JUAN SEBASTIÁN LOMBO DELGADO
Political writing
