One more president putting himself to shame

COLOMBIA - In Brief 12 Mar 2025 by Andrés Escobar Arango

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In Colombia, it is a presidential prerogative to incur in unforced errors precisely when they hurt the most. Namely, convoke a referendum or a plebiscite as a last resort to avoid losing face, and end up in the worst scenario of failing to get the referendum or plebiscite approved, losing face and depleting what little governability they have left. This was the case of Andrés Pastrana back in 2000, then of Álvaro Uribe in 2003, and later of Juan Manuel Santos in 2016. They all lost, either in Congress (Pastrana) or in the popular vote (Uribe and Santos), even though both presidents and some proposals were popular at the time. It is now Gustavo Petro’s turn to put his beleaguered administration to shame. On March 11th, President Petro reacted to the sinking of his labor reform in the seventh committee of the Senate by convoking widespread strikes (again) and announcing his intention to ask the people to vote a consulta popular (popular consultation) that, if successful, would force Congress to approve his failed labor reform and the (soon to be sunk) healthcare reform. The main criticisms of Gustavo Petro's labor reform were that it induced rigidities in hiring and firing and increased labor costs; it limited the types of temporary contracts and restricted the reasons for which an employer could terminate a contract; increased to 100% surcharge for Sunday and holiday work (currently 75%); changed the night shift to start at 7 p.m. instead of today’s 9 p.m.; raised severance pay, among other provisions. Critics pointed to a possible negative impact on job creation and investment. We have analyzed the particularities of healthcare reform in former reports. The requirement...