This Thursday, the departure of Jorge Iván González, director of the National Planning Department (DNP), was announced. This follows a heated cabinet meeting on Wednesday, during which the president made harsh accusations against his administration. After this became known, reports began to grow about a new ministerial upheaval, including a protocol demand for resignation from the entire cabinet.
(As you can see: National Planning’s Jorge I. González is leaving due to differences with President Petro)
However, the Casa de Nariño communications team assures that at no time were ministers asked to submit their resignations. ““Yesterday, at the council of ministers, the president did not ask for the cabinet’s resignation from the protocol.” The team responsible for the president’s communications says this. They then repeated: ““We would like to clarify that President Gustavo Petro did not demand the resignation of his cabinet at the cabinet meeting held yesterday in Casa de Nariño.”
Beyond the official version of the Presidency, there are also conflicting versions claiming an imminent change in ministries. Those close to the cabinet told EL TIEMPO that there was no request for the president to resign. But tensions were so great at Wednesday night’s meeting that many people tabled the possibility of leaving the government on their own initiative; This group still included the director of the DNP.. This version was also supported by DAPRE.
On the contrary, they take it as a fact that the Historical Pact, a coalition of left-wing parties that brought President Petro to power, asked all officials in the president’s cabinet to resign, claiming that: There will be changes in the ministry next week. They even state that this has been an issue that has been on the agenda for several months and that some of the names to be changed have already been mentioned.
(Also: Political reactions to Jorge Iván González’s resignation from National Planning)
If so, the versions that have been talking about changes in ministries since August last year will be confirmed.
The first of these occurred in February last year, as a result of the tension created by then-Minister of Education Alejandro Gaviria’s objection to the health reform proposed by the Executive Board. At that time, not only Gaviria left, but María Isabel Urrutia (Sports) and Patricia Ariza (Culture) were also asked to resign.
The second major move in Gustavo Petro’s cabinet took place in April. After the president trilled the end of the government coalition due to lack of support for healthcare reform, the president asked his entire cabinet to reform the protocol. This shock was the strongest yet.
At that time, Health Minister Carolina Corcho was dismissed; Minister of Finance José Antonio Ocampo; Secretary of Agriculture Cecilia López; and ICT Minister Sandra Urrutia. There were moves to bring Luis Fernando Velasco to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Mauricio Lizacano to ICT, and new faces like Aurora Vergara entered the cabinet.
(Also: Decrees and decisions signed by Álvaro Leyva after his suspension)
The possible third shock comes after a week of government in the Pacific in which President Petro made harsh public calls to his ministers. The President publicly questioned Health, Agriculture, Mines, among others. In his meetings with civilians, he called them to account and even questioned, in his own words, the management of resources. “technicians”.
In some of his interventions, the President said that there would be no fear of achieving the goals envisaged in his cabinet. “I’m afraid the government doesn’t have the ability at the moment either. “He allows himself to be dominated by inertia and the technocrat from below who imposes the decision.”The president questioned why an investment plan could not be made for the municipalities that were not included in the scope.
“What happens is, technique follows policy. Politics does not follow technique. If the system cannot be improved, technicians are hired to improve it.” Petro added that the people “cannot kneel before a technocrat with hidden interests.”
(Also: President Petro announces lease of 1,500 tanker trucks to deal with drought)
The President’s statements and calls on the stage resonated with the ministers, who even stated that they understood that these were “insurances” that could be changed at any time. That was the backdrop to Wednesday’s tense cabinet meeting. Warnings of a possible ministerial revolt are being raised once again.
Source: Exame
