President Gustavo Petro gave up on continuing with his political reform in Congress that sought state financing of campaigns, the formation of closed lists and gender parity in legislative elections.
In his first year in office, Colombian President Gustavo Petro received his first setback. This Thursday gave up on carrying out a political reform in Congress to seek state funding for campaigns. In addition, other of the objectives of the measure were the creation of closed lists with gender parity for the legislative elections.
It’s about the Government’s first legislative defeat in the seven months it has been in command of Colombia. With a coalition made up of parties from the left, center and some from the right, they managed to approve a tax reform in 2022. This measure will be important for change the health, labor and systems system.
“I think that in the political reform there is no progressive theme left“Petro lamented on his Twitter account.
In this sense, he added: “Without closed lists and zippers, that is, that allow equal seats for men and women and without state financing of campaignsthe reform does not contribute to an advance in the quality of politics”.
President decided to withdraw the project after articles were introduced to allow the change of congressmen from one party to anotheras well as to authorize legislators to hold ministerial positions without losing their seats (parliamentary seats), which would allow them to return to Congress if they withdrew from government functions.
From the Historical Pact, the left-wing coalition that brought Petro to power, assured in a statement that it was a “political reform.”
The Minister of the Interior, Alfonso Prada, announced that the Government will seek a national agreement to reintroduce the bill, which seeks to make politics more transparent and prevent electoral corruption.
“Following the instructions of President Gustavo Petro, the requests of congressmen of the Historical Pact and other political sectors, The Government made the decision to request authorization to withdraw the reform and call a grand agreementPrada told reporters.
Source: Ambito
