Vice President of the Republic during an interview for El Espectador
Photo: El Espectador – Gustavo Torrijos
Gustavo Petro’s government has not just emerged from a scandal to enter another story of controversy. While the case of alleged corruption in the National Disaster Risk Management Unit (Ungrd) continues to gain strength, and the alleged participation of congressmen and even one of its ministers, the Executive is already on the back foot, as it could receive another strong blow , this time on behalf of the Constitutional Court. The high court has in its hands to decide if the law with which the Ministry of Equality, led by Vice President Francia Márquez, was created, was issued under the rules required by the Political Constitution, or if it incurred some fault that would overthrow one of the biggest bets during the first year of the Petro government.
On this Wednesday afternoon, the Plenary Chamber of the Court will study a presentation prepared by Judge Paola Meneses, after a lawsuit presented by several congressmen from the Democratic Center, such as Paloma Valencia, María Fernanda Cabal and the imprisoned former senator Ciro Ramírez. The appeal asks that the law that created the new ministry be overturned, arguing that the fiscal impact it would have was unknown and that, furthermore, it was approved without a sufficient quorum in Congress. What the Court must resolve is if, in fact, there were errors in the processing of the law, the cost of creating a new ministerial portfolio was not taken into account, and if what corresponds is to overthrow the entire process and ask the Congress to repeat its debate and approval.
As has rarely happened since President Petro became president, the Attorney General’s Office, led by Margarita Cabello Blanco, agrees to keep the government policy alive. In its concept, the Public Ministry points out that in “the parliamentary process of Law 2281 of 2013, the impact on the treasury that would be generated with its approval was taken into account, since the compatibility between the content of the bill and the projections of economic policy. For this reason, the control body said, the creation of the portfolio led by Francia Márquez is constitutional. He added that, in the process of the rule, the criterion of fiscal sustainability was not affected, as the opposition says.
For its part, the National Legal Defense Agency of the State, representing the Petro government, asked the high court to abandon the opposition’s lawsuit, considering, like Attorney Cabello, that the process of the initiative was in order. “We consider that the lawsuit should be dismissed and, consequently, the Court should declare the enforceability of the provision under study.” The Agency told the Plenary Chamber of the Constitutional Court that it is not true that the fiscal impact of the project has not been studied or socialized, since “during its legislative process, the concept of Fiscal Impact prepared by the Ministry was submitted for consideration and debate. of Finance and Public Credit”.
Another point on which the Attorney General’s Office and the government converged to ask the Court to make the law firm is the powers that President Gustavo Petro has. The opposition congressmen pointed out in their lawsuit that “the law that allows the President of the Republic to suppress, create or merge entities is a constitutional excess that generates an impact on the Nation’s fiscal budget.” From the perspective of the head of the Public Ministry, the extraordinary powers granted by Congress to the head of State in the law only empower him to examine the powers of the existing entities in the public administration and determine those that, by affinity, should integrate the equality and equity sector.
“In this sense, it is clear that the legislator did not grant the National Government generic competence to modify the structure of the State that would allow it without any criteria to create or suppress institutions,” said the attorney in the concept that she delivered to the Court. Likewise, the Legal Defense Agency pointed out in the document that it submitted to the high court that what the congressmen of the Democratic Center point out is not true, since the bill clearly explains that the powers granted by Congress to the chief of State are only in relation to this portfolio and not to change state structures.
During the process of the initiative to create the Ministry of Equality in Congress, the opposition, during the voting, left the premises seeking to decomplete the quorum to prevent it from advancing. However, the initiative continued its path in the Legislature and, in December 2022, after approval in Congress with 75 votes in favor and 16 against by the Senate Plenary, the law was sanctioned by President Petro. Although they have sought to argue that the project advanced without there being enough congressmen to allow it to do so, the Public Ministry and the government have agreed that the process was met with sufficient quorum to materialize.
For now, the Plenary Chamber of the Constitutional Court will debate the future of the Equality portfolio this Wednesday afternoon. For 2024, the budget assigned to that Ministry was $1.3 billion and it has, for now, five vice ministers, 20 technical directors, 461 university professionals and other positions on its payroll. Between them, there are about 740 positions. In the event that the Court overturns the law, these charges would fall with the Ministry. In the event that the law returns to Congress so that they can adjust its approval, the future of the portfolio is uncertain, since the credibility of the Petro government is in doubt in the midst of the Ungrd corruption scandal and it would have to once again build bridges that They are reeling at this moment with political forces inside the Capitol.
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