Bogotá (EFE).- The Committee for the Promotion of the National Constituent Assembly abandoned on Thursday the controversial initiative that sought to reform the Colombian Constitution, arguing that the political climate required focusing efforts on building alliances for the second round of the presidential elections on Jun. 21.
«We have decided to halt the signature-gathering process and withdraw the proposal to convene a National Constituent Assembly,» the organization stated in a press release.
In the text, the organization affirmed that it will now support the formation of a «Grand National Agreement» promoted by left-wing presidential candidate Iván Cepeda.
The decision represents a setback for the initiative backed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
On May 1, he called for the creation of committees across the country to collect at least 2.5 million signatures to allow a proposal to convene a Constituent Assembly to be brought before Congress.
As of Thursday, the head of state endorsed the committee’s decision, arguing that the proposal sought to incorporate social reforms into the Constitution in areas such as healthcare, pensions, public services, mining, and education given the stalemate of his reforms in Congress.
«The constituent assembly had no other objective than to improve the living conditions of the Colombian people and finally guarantee their fundamental rights enshrined in the 1991 Constitution,» Petro wrote on X.
However, Petro argued that the country’s current political division prevents progress on convening a constituent assembly.
He maintained that the priority must be determining the next government in the Jun. 21 presidential runoff, in which Cepeda, the ruling party candidate who had initially supported the project, is competing.
Two days before the first round, in which Cepeda received 9.6 million votes, he told EFE in an interview that a constituent assembly was possible if based on a «national agreement» among business leaders, political parties, social movements, and other sectors of society.
«If at the end of that dialogue the decision is made to convene a constituent assembly, why not do it?» He said at the time.
Proposing the aforementioned was one of Petro’s main political priorities in the final stretch of his term, which ends on Aug. 7.
However, opposition parties, legal experts, and various political sectors strongly resisted the initiative, arguing that amending the 1991 Constitution is unnecessary and warning of the risks of launching a constitutional process amid high political polarization.
The opposition considered that Petro sought to reintroduce presidential reelection (abolished in 2015) through the constituent assembly to run again in 2030.
In the May 31 presidential election, Cepeda came in second with 9,703,921 votes, behind far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella, who received 10,366,143 votes. Most Colombians rejected the constituent assembly, making it difficult for Cepeda to form alliances and boost his electoral support ahead of the runoff.EFE
pc/dgp/mcd
