Weekly Report - 18 April 2024 (WR-24-15)

This has not stopped opposition politicians from expressing a deep lack of trust in Petro. Former president Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010), the leader of the right-wing Centro Democrático (CD), said that under the 1991 constitution “there is no basis” for using a presidential decree to convene a constituent assembly, and doing so would amount to a “coup d’état”. Other right-wingers suggested that Petro might be looking for re-election to another four-year term – also not allowed under the constitution. 

Petro has called on his critics to focus less on the form and more on the content - the reforms themselves. But Deputy Víctor Manuel Salcedo of the centre-right Partido de la U (PU) has responded that the form - the process by which changes are made - is important and must be in line with the existing constitution. Salcedo rejects any idea of “the people convening themselves” and insists that the constitution should be followed, not treated as a “guinea pig” for political experimentation.

Although Petro looks to be under considerable pressure there has been at

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