A whole political earthquake caused the process of the Health reform on the night of Tuesday, April 25, because the President of the Republic, Gustavo Francisco Petro, not only requested the resignation of all his ministers, but almost an hour after this first earthquake, a bigger one came with the declaration of the end of the government coalition with the traditional political parties.
“The political coalition agreed as a majority has ended today by decision of some party presidents. Some of whom threaten the majority of their own bench (sic),” the head of state said in a Twitter thread around 10:45 p.m.
The president also pointed out that these communities did not heed their call to achieve change and persist in their practices that have Colombian society in crisis.
“The political decisions taken today demonstrate: 1. The invitation to a social pact for change has been rejected. Those who have enriched themselves with the use of public money They have not realized that society demands their rights and that this implies dialogue and pact (sic)”, he affirmed.
Faced with this situation, Petro announced that he will reconsider the route of his mandate, since the citizens demand a change: “Despite the majority vote at the polls that calls for a change In Colombia, they try to close it with threats and sectarianism. 3. Such a situation leads us to a rethinking of the government”.
This is the The president’s first reaction after requesting the resignation of all his ministers, after the positive presentation of the Health reform was approved with a small margin of 10 votes in favor, compared to eight against, in a strong debate in the House of Representatives.
Previously, a Liberal Party statement, where its director, former president César Gaviria, warned that the congressmen of that group must stick to their mandate to vote negatively on the Health reform raised by the National government or will even have criminal consequences.
“Those who announce or promote ignorance of such decisions will be punished. Likewise, to those who receive resources from the State and whose purpose is to violate the decisions of the Colombian Liberal Party, in relation to the project under discussion, will receive penalties of the same type. Such behaviors could be understood as bribery (sic)”, points to the letter.
The conservatives had already done the same with another statement in which reiterated that it would not support the government’s initiative either and that its congressmen should vote negatively, since their observations were not accepted in the bill document.
“Consistent with the decision taken by the Parliamentary Bench on April 11 and ratified on the 18th of the same month, NOT to support the Health Reform project presented by the Government, it is the obligation of all House Representatives and Senators of the Conservative Party to vote NEGATIVE (sic)”, they indicated.
Almost at the same time as the president’s announcement of the end of the government coalition, and once the result of the debate vote in the Seventh Committee of the House of Representatives was known, and that Petro requested the resignation of all his ministers , the Partido de la U officially announced that it was also withdrawing its support, under the same argument: their observations were not accepted in the text of the paper.
“(It) calls on our congressmen to take into account that in the vote on the Health Reform articles, which begins tomorrow, April 26, 2023, to accept the decision made by the Bancada (…) in which it was decided to vote negatively taking into account that it does not include the proposals presented by the parties of the U and Conservative”, they sentenced.
