2023-11-06 07:01:00
Representative Juan Espinal, of the Democratic Center, assured that the result of the regional elections will set the path for what will be the presidential elections of 2026, in which he believes that the left will be defeated, although there are still more than two years until those elections.
In dialogue with EL COLOMBIANO, representative Espinal, who holds the position of second vice president of the Chamber, demanded that the president of that corporation, the liberal Andrés Calle, be balanced and not lean towards the Government of Gustavo Petro, so that he provide full guarantees to the opposition.
The Antioquia congressman also stated that he does not see the environment for the ‘national dialogue’ to which President Petro refers to materialize. In this regard, Espinal pointed out that on the part of the Government there is no broad call to create dialogue tables that include political, business and academic sectors.
In your position as second vice president, you are the opposition with the highest position in the Chamber, what work do you do for the opposition from there?
“It is a position that seeks to guarantee balance so that guarantees are granted to the opposition in the House of Representatives regarding issues such as the political control debate and the definition of the agenda in the plenary session. The opposition statute gives us three moments in each legislature to define the agenda and we have a special session that we used three weeks ago to debate the General Budget of the Nation for the 2024 period.”
Do you feel that there were changes in the Chamber after the departure of Representative David Racero from the presidency of that corporation?
“David Racero gave up because in one year he only held one political control debate. In these three months that we have been on the board of directors we have held three debates on political control, and it is essential that this control mechanism returns to the House of Representatives.”
And how do you evaluate the first months of President Andrés Calle’s administration, also close to Gustavo Petro’s government?
“President Andrés Calle is a colleague with whom you can talk, and the only thing I have complained about is the guarantees for the opposition. He has to be more guaranteeing because his inclination towards the National Government is evident. He, as president of the Chamber, has to find a point of balance.”
Do you think that in Congress the parties will change their position towards the Government after the results of the elections?
“Gustavo Petro’s government should assume political responsibility for its defeat at the polls. Without a doubt, I think that the parties are going to begin to make political calculations and are going to gradually distance themselves from the Government because they are beginning to think about what the legislative and presidential elections of 2026 will be like.”
Those elections are still far away, but do you think they will be decisive in defining dynamics on Capitol Hill?
“Yeah. The dynamics can be reconfigured because there is a Government that lost legitimacy at the polls, although the president does not want to recognize it, and that loses more governability every day. The past elections are a kind of ‘first presidential round’, a prelude to what the 2026 elections will be like and that will weigh on the decisions that the parties will make.”
And do you think that the left gave ground for those elections?
“Yes because the country is overcoming a wave of so-called ‘progressive’ governments such as in Medellín, Cali, Manizales and Bogotá. What we see is that the ‘progressives’ do not know how to govern. You only have to see the disastrous management of Daniel Quintero, in Medellín, that of Carlos Mario Marín in Manizales, and that of Jorge Iván Ospina in Cali.”
You accompanied Álvaro Uribe to his first dialogues with President Petro, do you see the environment for the ‘national agreement’?
“Not because President Petro is always won by arrogance and ego. We have been hearing from him for several months the call for such a national agreement, but he is not willing to dialogue with the opposition. President Petro is selective in dialogue and turns a deaf ear to opponents, it was clear with what happened with the health reform in the plenary session of the Chamber.”
What are you referring to in particular?
“It was agreed to create a subcommittee to evaluate the gross and sensitive issues of the reform. That was the starting point of the national agreement, but despite the subcommittee’s objections, the reform continued and more than 40% of the project’s articles were approved. “They did not listen to the unions, the doctors, scientists, citizens and the opposition.”
Do you see a future for the reforms or do you think that after the first year it will be difficult to process them all?
“From the opposition we will insist on the need to shelve the reforms because they are harmful and do not build on what has been built. It is evident that Petro lost his first year in power because although he had the majority in Congress, his reforms failed. He failed the political reform, the law of subjugation and prison humanization was sunk. He also lost his labor one and the pension one in the Senate and the health one in the House survived.”
Will the Antioquia bench be better articulated with Federico Gutiérrez and Andrés Julián Rendón?
“Yeah. We will work hand in hand with them to move Hidroituango forward, which will guarantee 17% of the country’s energy security and avoid a blackout. Also to promote the River Train project, an initiative of Governor Aníbal Gaviria. And it will be essential to unite Medellín again, we must recover the fraternal relationship between the State, business and academia.”
Will they also look for ways to finance Antioquia’s 4G roads?
“Clear. For us, it has been very complex that President Gustavo Petro turned his back on the department with the 1.8 billion pesos that are needed to finish the 4G roads, which are not only highways in Antioquia, but are national roads that connect the center and south of the country. “They are fundamental avenues for the economic development of Antioquia, the Coffee Region and the Cauca Valley.”
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