*Procedure has some steps for its processing and implementation
*Up to 12 questions may be posed for the consultation
*Popular consultation is expected to take place between August or October
*Up to 12 questions may be posed for the consultation
*Popular consultation is expected to take place between August or October
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NewsTranscript
00:00In Colombia, in view of the parliamentary paralyses to move forward the projects and
00:05social reforms proposed by the government of President Gustavo Petro, the executive
00:10launched the proposal to hold a popular consultation. Our colleague Hernan Tovar tells us the details.
00:21The political constitution of Colombia foresees a mechanism of careful participation represented
00:26in the popular consultation, to which the maximum representative of the executive resorts
00:31to give solutions to the parliamentary blockage that has not allowed the advancement of social
00:36reforms. For former magistrates of the constitutional court, this process
00:40is part of the primordial right that resides in the Magna Carta of 91.
00:50It is worth remembering that this constitution consecrated from the beginning the popular
00:54sovereignty in Article 3, and in the second article it stated that all Colombians have the
01:04right to participate in all political, economic, social and cultural matters that interest them.
01:10So this is not a funny gift that is made to Colombians,
01:19but they are part of the people and it is the people who retains the ownership of sovereignty.
01:23Having the right to participate.
01:36This procedure has some steps for its processing and implementation. Initially, and after the
01:41signature of all the ministers, the President sends to the Senate of the Republic the proposal
01:45of questions and the date of the consultation. This legislative cell must process it within
01:50the following 20 days and approve it or not. If it goes forward and is accepted,
01:55the President must convene the consultation by decree. From this point on, the interested
02:00groups have 15 days to register before the National Electoral Council, initiating the
02:04promotion campaigns in favor or against an abstention with their respective resolutions.
02:14The National Electoral Council has to issue three resolutions,
02:17one allocating the spaces according to the number of groups that have registered in the
02:22public spaces, in the radio and in the public TV, to promote any of these three options.
02:28It must also issue a resolution on the limits of financing at the national,
02:32departmental and municipal levels to support or not support the consultation.
02:37It must also issue a resolution enabling the participation of electoral witnesses.
02:47Up to 12 questions may be posed for the consultation,
02:52which must be approved by one-third of the electoral roll in the country, which is around
02:5713,600,000 people out of a total of approximately 40 million citizens with the capacity to vote.
03:03This is a high figure considering that President Petro was elected with 11 million votes,
03:09the high level of abstention and the fact that the Senate does not have the support
03:12of several benches that have shown their clear opposition to the initiative.
03:17The Senate cannot modify the questions, the Senate can only say yes or no to the consultation.
03:26Obviously we have the same problem, the government has to look for the votes and
03:29all the congressmen have to support so that the majority of the congressmen support this
03:33consultation, of course the Senate could say no and that is as far as it goes.
03:36The popular consultation is expected to take place between August or October of this year,
03:47in the hope that the Senate will make this possibility viable, taking into account that
03:52many of its members have not been consistent with the needs of the historically forgotten
03:56population of the country.