The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, assured this Tuesday that he is “not at all interested” in presidential reelection, alluding to the statements of the Historical Pact senator Isabel Zuleta, who revealed that she is promoting this initiative “from the citizen bases.” .
“Personally, I am not interested in re-election at all, but those who did take advantage of it and called for war and peace are now proposing coups d’état. The reason is one: they failed to comply. They did not know what they signed,” he stated. , in reference to former presidents Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010) and Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018).
The indirect mention against Uribe would have had to do with his statements last week in which he proposed that the security forces disobey the president, if necessary, to guarantee the security of Colombians. In the case of Santos, for having refuted the thesis that the peace agreement with the extinct FARC enables the president to convene a constituent assembly.
“The unilateral declaration of State according to the Vienna Convention obliges the parties to comply with what was agreed and to adjust internal regulations to guarantee compliance. We are left with three tasks: read the convention, read the peace agreement and comply,” he concluded.
Petro assured the day before that the country’s Congress has the “historic role” of convening a constituent process to renew the 1991 Constitution and implement both the 2016 Havana Peace Agreements with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and a future pact arising from current negotiations with the National Liberation Army (ELN).
THE COLOMBIAN CONSTITUTION DOES NOT ALLOW RE-ELECTION
Zuleta mentioned that several political figures wanted the president to be re-elected, although this figure is not protected by the Constitution. “It is not Petro who is talking about re-election, there are many of us activists. We do want re-election. And we say it upfront and we are promoting it,” he declared, as reported by the Colombian newspaper ‘El Tiempo’.
These statements take place weeks after Petro, elected in 2022, assured that progressivism should continue in the Casa de Nariño to consolidate social reforms. “In just two years we have done what the governments did in ten, and we have two left (…) although I do believe that progressivism deserves four more years because these reforms must be advanced.”
Uribe approved a constitutional modification for immediate re-election, while Santos promoted a reform during his second term that put an end to this measure. Both benefited from the possibility of being in power for two terms.
