Petro unites five Ex-Colombian Presidents against his call for a Constituent Assembly

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Colombia's Gustavo Petro during the May Day rally in Bogotá's Plaza de Bolívar. Photo: Presidencia.
Colombia's Gustavo Petro during the May Day rally in Bogotá's Plaza de Bolívar. Photo: Presidencia.

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has achieved what no other living president has managed since the enactment of the 1991 Constitution: unite all former Presidents in unanimous opposition to his proposal for a new Constituent Assembly.

Petro insists that modifying the country’s charter is essential to implement the 2016 Peace Accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Almost every opposition party to the current government interpret this as an attempt to amend the Constitution for Petro to remain in power for a second term. Former President Ernesto Samper (1994-1998), a close ally of Petro, has now joined the most vocal within the opposition. According to Samper: “It is not possible to legitimize the call for a Constituent Assembly in the Peace Agreement of Havana signed between the State and the FARC. This would be a de facto Constituent Assembly, a leap into the void of institutionalism that would begin by ignoring the Congress and the Constitutional Court.”

The five former presidents – Juan Manuel Santos, Iván Duque, Álvaro Uribe, Ernesto Samper and César Gaviria – have reacted unanimously to protect the Constitution. Petro has argued that “if Congress does not call a Constituent Assembly, then the people must decide.” He emphasized that “Congress can today assume a historical role. The political discussion is open. In my opinion, it is now up to the constituent power of the people.”

César Gaviria (1990-1994) strongly opposes Petro’s proposal, considering it unconstitutional. “Respect for it is the main guarantee that can be offered to Colombians, that future decisions come from an agreement and not from a veiled imposition. Attempting it is an act against the 1991 Constitution, which the vast majority of Colombians support,” Gaviria said.

Gaviria’s statements on social media prompted all former presidents to reject the proposal and refute its viability through the Accords. Gaviria emphasized that “in the unusual proposal, the Santos government team did not negotiate the possibility of holding a constituent assembly. Article 376 of the 1991 Political Constitution clearly establishes the only way a constituent assembly can be convened. Any attempt to call it outside the constitutional framework would directly undermine democratic institutional stability and other branches of power.”

Gaviria has proposed a “National Accord” to defend the Magna Carta, meanwhile, former president Santos, who led the 2016 peace agreement, also criticized Petro’s insidious proposal. “The theory that the agreement is a special agreement that the contracting parties can modify also has no legal basis because special agreements presuppose that the conflict between the parties continues. And that was not the case between the State and FARC,” Santos explained.

Santos urged the government to focus on solving pressing issues. “One way to do this is to implement the peace agreement, which does not require a constituent assembly or special agreements, but rather political will and the ability to translate intentions into realities,” he emphasized.

Former president Iván Duque (2018-2022) lashed out at Petro, accusing the leftist leader of seeking a Constituent Assembly without following constitutional procedures to remain in power. “The fact that a president is already talking about re-electing a political project before completing two years and threatening that if they do not allow it, he will stay until the people say so is also a constant aggression against constitutional order. Presidential terms are 4 years as stated in the Constitution,” stated Duque. He then went on to affirm: “They (the Petro Government) want a constituent assembly for re-election, and united Colombians will not allow the Constitution to be trampled.”

Former president Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010) defended the democratic system, stating that “President Petro cannot invent a different mechanism to call for a Constituent Assembly – that would be a coup d’état.”

The staunch opposition leader and former president Andrés Pastrana (1998-2002) warned of the authoritarian implications of Petro’s proposal. “Noting the president’s announcement to call a Constituent Assembly, claiming that his government plans cannot be realized through democratic parliamentarism and respect for the principle of separation of powers in a constitutional State of Law, warns of the authoritarian drift that such a proposal could signify, in light of the experiences of 21st-century socialism in Venezuela (1999), Bolivia (2006), and Ecuador (2007, 2008).” The Conservative President who presided over failed peace talks with FARC emphasized that Petro’s urgency to call for an Assembly is “another smokescreen to hide his campaign’s violation of electoral limits and his government’s rampant corruption”.

This rare unified stance among former Colombian presidents underscores the gravity of Petro’s proposal and threat it poses to the nation’s constitutional order. Should Petro proceed to get his Assembly by side-stepping Congress, this dangerous move also has the potential to unleash a civil confrontation that would involve the intervention of Colombia’s Armed Forces.