2023-07-21 08:20:24
A real bump, which left more than one pale and unleashed concern in the House of Nariño, was experienced this Thursday in Congress during the election of the new boards of directors, no less than those in charge of routing and guaranteeing the processing of projects, among them, the ambitious reforms of the government of Gustavo Petro.
The balance for the Executive was bittersweet, although in the Chamber they managed to put one of their own – the now president Andrés Calle (Liberal Party) – in the Senate the setback was huge, since Senator Iván Name was elected, a traditional politician who, although he is a member of the Green Alliance (declared government party), has not kept anything when it comes to criticizing and formulating objections to the Petro Government.
Also read: Greens chose Lozano as a candidate for the Presidency of the Senate, but the election will be made by clean vote
Of the 106 senators, 50 voted for Lozano and 54 for Name, which also shows how tight the bid was. In order to gauge what happened yesterday, it is necessary to understand the dynamics of Congress. Every 4 years, at the beginning of the mandate, the parties with the highest number of votes decide which groups will occupy the presidencies of both chambers for each legislature.
It is a tradition to avoid conflicts and differences. The first year corresponded to the Historical Pact and now the turn was for the Green Alliance. The commitment, almost sacred, is that the other parties adhere to the candidacy that each movement postulates.
That is why, in the case of the Senate, prior to the vote and as a reminder –with a hint of warning–, each of the 106 congressmen of that corporation found a statement from the Green Alliance in which they ratified that their chosen one to occupy that dignity was Senator Angélica Lozano.
However, within his party there were those who raised their hands to put his name up for consideration: Senators Inti Asprilla (close to Petrism) and Iván Name, who ended up nominating himself, despite not having the support of his bench. In an energetic intervention, Name called for the independence of Congress from the Executive so that his name could be considered.
Given the lack of decision, the ball –and, why not, the papaya– remained in the hands of the opposition and independents, who ended up deciding which of the 3 best suited their interests. Indeed, the votes to elect Iván Name were obtained one by one with the efforts of congressmen from Cambio Radical and the Centro Democrático. They were the ones who were in the meetings talking with the political forces to ask them to support him as the most institutionalist alternative of the three green pre-candidacies.
The talks were given until the last moment of the vote. Just as the former president of the Senate, Alexander Lopez Maya, called the list for the plenary session, the congressmen were talking among themselves. The president of the Conservative Party, Efrain Cepeda, was speaking with Senator Paloma Valencia of the Democratic Center and others from the bench in their seats in Congress. The same thing happened with the senator of Cambio Radical, Carlos Fernando Motoa, who was with Name during the entire vote.
The reminder of the greens was of no use so that the agreements were fulfilled and Lozano was chosen. In fact, the senator herself –as EL COLOMBIANO verified– went through each seat of her bench, handing them a rectangular piece of paper on which her vote in favor of her was written.
Very elegant and smiling, accompanied by her partner, the mayor Claudia López –who was seen in the corridors of Congress–, Lozano was confident of compliance with the agreements. The path was even believed to be clear when Inti Asprilla accepted her defeat, although she reproached the Government for campaigning against Lozano, despite the fact that she “never supported” Petro to win the Presidency. She even called her colleagues disloyal and accused them of going over those who “fought for change” represented by the Government. “I accept defeat. I retire”.
Also controversial in Chamber
A situation similar to the one that occurred in the Senate became visible in the House of Representatives, where the turn was for the Liberal Party. There the anointed for weeks was the representative for Córdoba, Andrés Calle, close to Petrism and who moved votes on the Coast in favor of today’s President. Therefore, he counted on the unrestricted nod of petrism to reach that dignity, as indeed happened: he won 175 of 188 votes.
However, competition came before him: the Antioquia representative Julián Peinado, who raised his hand, ratified his independence and asked for support. Despite this, he denounced that his application was blocked. “At the last minute, those of Cambio Radical turned around,” said a source familiar with the matter.
“We made the effort, we fought, we sought consensus among the benches and at the last minute the Government achieved its objective: to block my candidacy and break our vote with the parties so that the president of the Chamber is the one to their liking. Very dangerous for the country that the independence of the institutions and the balance in the separation of powers are not preserved, ”he alleged.
In his speech, when thanking the fulfillment of the agreements, Calle thanked the Liberal Party and winked at the Government by praising the Minister of the Interior, Luis Fernando Velasco, and Petro himself: “We lead the President’s political project with a progressive liberalism”, he assured.
The anointed to rule
Iván Name: new president of the Senate
Although he is of Barranquilla origin, most of his political life has been spent in Bogotá. Since 2010 he has been a congressman of the Green Alliance and in the last elections he obtained almost 40,000 votes. For the presidential contest, he supported the former candidate and former mayor of Bucaramanga Rodolfo Hernández.
Andrés Calle: new president of the Chamber
He is 31 years old and is a native of Montelíbano (Córdoba). He is a lawyer and political scientist from the Pontifical Bolivarian University. He reached the House in 2018 after getting more than 57,000 votes. Last year he repeated the seat and achieved more than 72,260 votes. He is related to petrism.
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