Petro to call referendum after Colombia’s Senate sinks labor reform

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro announced a popular vote on a far-reaching labor reform after a Senate commission decided to pull it from the legislative agenda.

In an address to the nation, Petro called on the people to take to the streets to pressure their representatives in congress to approve a referendum that could force Congress to legislate on the government’s proposed health and labor reforms.

According to the president, “our call for a national agreement to which we invited the business class and the opposition has failed.”

Consequently, a referendum on his key policy proposals is the only way to “break the blockade that has the government stuck,” said Petro.

The reforms that were submitted to the Congress of the Republic, three fundamental ones, pension, labor and health, are the genuine expression of the popular vote for the President of the Republic in the year 2022. They are the government program that was registered in the Registrar’s Office and that had the electoral majority in Colombia.

President Gustavo Petro

“We believe this institutional blockade must be overcome if we want democracy and peace in this country,” said the president.

Petro specifically called on sectors of society that took part in a national strike in 2021 to take to the streets to support a referendum, which requires senatorial approval, according to the constitution.

This popular consultation begins now with street protests. The people are the foundation of sovereignty, the people are the foundation of institutionality, the people are the foundation of democracy, says the political constitution of Colombia, and we are obeying the constitution.

President Gustavo Petro

The president’s call for protests and a referendum immediately received the support of labor unions and indigenous organizations that were key organizers of the 2021 national strike.

The tensions between Petro and the political opposition in the Senate have been escalating for more than two years because of the conservative and far-right opposition’s success to block votes on the government’s reform agenda.