Parade or charade?
There were many reactions to President Gustavo Petro’s idea of convening a Constitutional Assembly. Possibly the most synthesizing one came from constitutional lawyer Juan Manuel Charry, who wrote that Petro doesn’t know whether his role is to subvert the institutional order or to govern (“no sabe si subvertir o gobernar”). Another analyst suggested that the president is basically notifying Colombians that he’s unwilling to use the established rules for changing the Constitution. Yet others argued that, since the president lacks a majority in Congress, he’s announcing that he won’t depend upon that body.
According to Petro, “Colombian institutions are failing the Constitution and the people” -- so the Constitution must be changed. His novel procedure would be to convene “open town hall meetings [for] mobilizing people” to “purify our institutions … convoking the people, and not the mafias.”
A direct consequence of this unprecedented and off-off Broadway approach to writing a new Constitution is that reforms would be pursued not through Congress, but via Constitutional Assembly deliberations. Relations between the Executive branch and Congress would grow further strained, to put it mildly. That’s why the president of Congress, Iván Name, reacted angrily to Petro’s proposal. He demanded that Petro work through Congress. He even warned the president that the Armed Forces would align with the defense of Colombian institutions, and aren’t subject to manipulation by Petro.
As sad and weird as these events are, we should focus on Colombia’s historical trajectory, and treat Petro’s Constitutional Assembly proposal as one big charade. Colombian institutions would hardly accommodate the disruptive procedures of the president’s idea. But things won’t return to normal soon, since Petro will likely strive to save face. Though this situation won’t get better until it gets worse, we don’t want to speculate on how it will eventually play out: we’re in uncharted waters.
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