By Patricia Lara Salive, EL ESPECTADOR, October 4, 2024
(Translated by Eunice Gibson, CSN Volunteer Translator)
This time I really do hope that the political reform bill will pass, so we can see if it will purify our politics, even if only a little. Let’s see the results of undertaking complete government financing of campaigns, as Luis Carlos Galán proposed, so that congressional candidates won’t have to spend thousands of millions to obtain a seat, and therefore, as happens with some members of Congress, they won’t be overcome by the temptation to look for any kind of a way to pay for the campaign, not caring whether the origin of the money is not very saintly, such as money that they demanded from employees on their Congressional staff, or if contractors furnish the money to help obtain certain government contracts, not to mention contributions from the drug traffickers and other owners of illicit businesses, for the purpose of guaranteeing that they, as Members of Congress, will protect them.
And I also hope that, this time, the political reform bill will pass, so I can see whether politics can be feminized a little more. Politics has been a territory where men rule, practically any way they wish, with women not having much participation; while so many make war or direct those who are making war. Apparently they don’t care even a little bit about the consequences of their actions. I want to see if, when gender parity in the lists is established, women will acquire much more influence on the decisions being made by the country.
But passing the reform bill is not easy. Already in the first session of Congress during the Petro era, presided over by the able Senator Roy Barreras, political reform was sunk by the administration itself, (Remember when Roy tanked it right in the middle of Congressional debate?) because the Members were mutilating it, until it was reduced to just a little statement, by eliminating two fundamental issues: the closed lists and parity between men and women, and the financing of campaigns by the government. Then, President Petro himself said, “Without closed zip lists, I mean, lists permitting an equal number of seats for men and women, and without government financing of campaigns, the reform doesn’t contribute any advance in the quality of our politics.”
Another key item in the bill is the proposal to modify the system of judges being elected to the National Electoral Council (CNE). The bill would establish that, instead of the selection being made by agreement of the political parties, as is done now, the judges would be selected by the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Justice, and the Council of State, after a public invitation to apply, and competition based on merit.
If the skillful Interior Minister, Juan Fernando Cristo, is able to get political reform passed, he will not only have accomplished a great good for this country, but at the same time, having in his pocket political reform and the national agreement that he is advancing cautiously, Cristo could put himself at the starting line in 2026. And if he adds to that some big progress in the implementation of the Peace Agreement with the FARC, his possibilities get better still. But he doesn’t have much time left to achieve those miracles, because if he doesn’t want to be disqualified, he will have to leave his post in March.
Good luck with those three good proposals, Mr. Minister.