Gustavo Petro, president of Colombia, said that his majority coalition in congress had disintegrated as a result of rumors that he had ordered his cabinet to quit, casting doubt on the future of his eight-month-old administration.
Petro, a former guerrilla member and Colombia’s first leftwing president, wrote on Twitter late on Tuesday night that “the political coalition agreed as a majority has ended today due to decisions of some party presidents”.
“Such a situation leads us to a rethinking of the government,” he added.
the president’s contentious health reform measure, which seeks to increase the role of the state in providing healthcare, was announced after leaders of three traditional parties in his centre-left coalition declared that they would compel their members to vote against it.
A part of Petro’s development plan that would have allowed the government to purchase land for farmers in order to carry out a peace agreement made in 2016 by a previous administration with Marxist rebels was also eliminated, dealing a double legislative blow on Tuesday.
In a speech earlier on Tuesday night, Petro raised the idea of installing “a government of emergency, given that congress wasn’t capable of approving some simple articles”. He added that such an administration would not be a government by decree, and officials would “work hard, day and night”.
According to two government sources, Petro asked all 18 of his cabinet ministers to resign just before declaring that the ruling coalition was no longer in place. A government overhaul was reportedly on the horizon, according to local media reports.
Petro, a former guerrilla fighter for the socialist M-19 group, won election last summer on a platform of broad economic reforms to the nation’s long-standing conservatism. Along with his own Historic Pact party, he was supported in Congress by a coalition made up of conventionally centrist parties and other left-leaning organizations.
Since then, he has approved progressive tax legislation, but other historic reforms—particularly the health plan, which some members of his own cabinet have resisted—have been difficult. Alejandro Gaviria, his first education minister and a reputable former health minister, denounced the reform strategy and resigned in February.
The nation’s business community has also voiced opposition to Petro’s intentions to strengthen workers’ rights and increase the government’s participation in pension provision.
Petro’s capacity to lead will be further jeopardized by the loss of a congressional majority. He urged his people to “rise up” against elites and hold a rally in the capital of Bogotá in February as his health reform project started to falter. The number of demonstrators was sparse.
Petro’s capacity to lead will be further jeopardized by the loss of a congressional majority. He urged his people to “rise up” against elites and hold a rally in the capital of Bogotá in February as his health reform project started to falter. The number of demonstrators was sparse.
Sergio Guzmán, director of Colombia Risk Analysis, said that Petro’s sweeping announcements on Tuesday drew from radical tendencies that would impede his administration going forward.
“Petro is making sure that instead of being the first of many leftwing presidents in Colombia, he will be the only one,” Guzmán said.
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