“This government does not support any project that seeks to restore the re-election of the president”: the interior minister

This Sunday morning, September 29, Juan Fernando Cristo, the Minister of the Interior, shared the editorial of El Espectador, a text in which Fidel Cano, the director of the media, is reluctant to any possible re-election in Colombia and highlights , naturally, in Gustavo Petro. The official said he shared Cano’s position.

“The character of re-election is alien to the institutional tradition of our country and changes the balance of power. That’s why I led the reintroduction of its ban in 2015. This government DOES NOT support any project that seeks to restore the re-election of the president or allow the re-election of governors and mayors,” he wrote on his X account.

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In his text, Cano pointed out that “the re-election of presidents, governors and mayors is a bad idea for the country.” He points out that it is fundamentally a question of political culture. Face it He assures that part of Colombia is to respect democracy with the rotation of mandates in all government bodies.

“Yes, other countries have this number. Yes, there are systems where leaders can be re-elected for multiple terms and that doesn’t make them any less democratic. However, given the way our institutions are designed and what we have learned about how messianism and the concentration of power work in the country, Colombia must step back from any regulatory arrangement that encourages the abuse and deification of political leaders,” he stressed. .

The columnist pointed to the aforementioned idea of ​​presenting a constitutional reform that would allow the immediate re-election not only of the president of the republic, but also of mayors and governors. He emphasizes that the current proposal comes from the Historic Pact, although Gustavo Petro has said that it is not in his interest to stay in power. Some congressmen like Isabel Cristina Zuleta would have such an intention to talk about re-election.

“We don’t need to look for imaginary scenarios, Colombia has already experienced it. First with President Álvaro Uribe Vélez, who used his massive popularity and the corruption of some of his former ministers to buy a constitutional reform that allowed him to serve another term. If the Constitutional Court had not courageously intervened, he would have run for a third time. In any case, the institutional damage has already been done. The days of control bodies, designed for a single presidential term and guaranteeing the balance of power, have blurred. The guarantee law did not serve to prevent those who represented the state from using all their power to re-elect and encourage their friends. Because of the “reversals of life”, Uribismo himself would then complain about the excess of power that the president, who is seeking re-election, has when he has to face Juan Manuel Santos and the whole machinery of his national agreement,” he added.

This initiative is led by Senator Isabel Cristina ZuletaThe historic pact, which began to collect the necessary signatures to present the draft law.

The proposal would allow not only the re-election of the president of the republic, but would also apply to governors and mayors, who would have the opportunity to run for a second consecutive term of office, or even a third term, if it is not consecutive.

According to the text of the project “No person may be elected President of the Republic for more than two consecutive terms, nor for more than three intermittent terms.”

As for governors and mayors, the project stipulates that they can be re-elected once for consecutive terms, or up to twice discontinuously. The terms would continue to be four years, as stipulated by the current legislation.