Petro Coalition in Disarray Over Opposition for Controversial Health Reform Policy

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has found his government in disarray as he demanded the resignation of his ministers and announced the end of his broad political coalition, putting into question the planned reforms of his administration, including his controversial health care reform bill. 

Petro announced on Twitter the end of his broad political coalition which has helped him push some of his administration’s agenda like his tax reform bill since he assumed office in 2022. In the series of tweets, he said that “[the] political coalition agreed as a majority has ended today by decision of some party presidents. Some of which threaten the majority of their own bench. Despite the majority vote at the polls that calls for a change in Colombia, they are trying to close it with threats and sectarianism.”

Las decisiones politicas tomadas hoy demuestran:

1. La invitación a un pacto social para el cambio ha sido rechazada.

Quienes se han enriquecido con el uso del dinero público no se han dado cuenta que la sociedad demanda sus derechos y que eso implica el dialogo y el pacto.

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) April 26, 2023

Petro has also demanded the resignation of all of his ministers concurrently with the announcement of the death of the coalition, though no minister has been reported to be resigning from their positions as of press time.

The coalition is believed to have been destroyed largely due to the strong opposition that many officials and lawmakers have over Petro’s health care reform bill, which has proven so controversial that three ministers in Petro’s administration have resigned over their disagreement with it back in February. 

“I was quite explicit in the Cabinet meetings. I said that I did not agree. I maintain those concerns with the health reforms,” former Education Minister Alejandro Gaviria said at the time. 

Former Colombian President César Gaviria has also warned members of the Colombian Liberal Party to vote “no” on the bill or it will have negative consequences and ramifications for their political future in the country. 

“Those who announce or promote ignorance of such decisions will be punished. Likewise, those who receive resources from the State and whose purpose is to violate the decisions of the Colombian Liberal Party, in relation to the project under discussion, will receive sanctions of the same type,” Gaviria said in a letter. 

Gaviria is not the only former President to criticize the bill: Álvaro Uribe Vélez also criticized the bill on Twitter, and has pushed for a version of the bill that only addresses “ preventive care and in dispersed communities, and salary of the System’s servers.”

“The current system has achieved that the rich and the poor receive the same attention in the best private clinics. With state control, the mistreatment of the population and the privilege of the political bureaucracy lead to,” Uribe Vélez said about the bill. 

In a response, Petro decried Uribe Vélez’s criticisms of the health reform bill despite the two maintaining strong communications with each other during Petro’s term: “Former President Uribe, why do you want the private EPS to manage public money? Do you know that this leads to unloading patients even in danger of death and bankrupt hospitals?”

In light of the news of the coalition’s break-up, the first debate on the health reform bill in Congress was canceled.

Photo courtesy of the Presidencia of Colombia