This Wednesday, August 7, marks exactly two years since President Gustavo Petro took office and the second half of his government begins, which will end in 2026.
In , the representatives Carolina Arbeláez, from Cambio Radical; Duvalier Sánchez, from Alianza Verde; Alejandro Ocampo, from Pacto Histórico; and Andrés Forero, from Centro Democrático, spoke about the challenges that the government will face in the two years it has left in the Casa de Nariño.
First, Congresswoman Arbeláez questioned that the administration of the Historic Pact has been calling for dialogue to approve its reforms, however, she assured that she has spent the first part of the period in a “permanent conflict” with “everyone who thinks differently.”
“These are two years of many challenges. The government has been calling for dialogue in favour of reforms, but we see that it has spent these two years in a permanent conflict, a confrontation with Congress, with the opposition, with everyone who thinks differently. We see it as difficult for this dialogue to be consolidated. Also, in the midst of so many corruption scandals in the Government, it is very difficult for the reforms to have legitimacy,” said the congresswoman, who made a negative assessment of the government.
“I can make a diagnosis of poor governance, low budget execution, explicit crisis in all sectors of the economy, instability, there are already 35 ministers in this government,” he said.
Representative Ocampo said that the country has had “important developments” in these two years of management.
“These are going to be two very important years for the country. The government will be able to announce its results, executing in Colombia has not been easy. I think that Colombia has had important developments in these two years. In 2023, the Petro government invested more in health than the entire Iván Duque government. In the area of infrastructure, five times more was invested than Santos, four and a half times with Uribe,” he stressed.
Representative Forero said that the last two years of President Petro’s administration will be “complex.”
“We have two complex years ahead of us because the president has decided to bring forward the presidential campaign. We have seen that it has had poor execution, he does not have many results to show. Because of this inability to show results and because of all the scandals that have surrounded his government, the president has decided to talk about a constituent assembly, which he had promised not to convene in 18 and 22,” he said.
