The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, proposed on Thursday nine points that he believes should be included in the discussion on the eventual convening of a Constituent Assembly, an idea that his Government has been thinking about for months.

“First of all, a constituent is the constituent power and the national agreement on the issues,” Petro said in his X account, a day after the liberal politician Juan Fernando Cristo, announced on Wednesday as the new Minister of the Interior, stated that his appointment was made with the purpose of seeking a national agreement that allows the exploration of a Constituent Assembly.

In that sense, the issues proposed today by Petro begin with the “immediate guarantee of the universal right to education, health and pensions,” followed by a “new territorial order.”

Thirdly, the president proposes to put into question “the economic and social development of the excluded territories,” and fourthly, “the agrarian reform.”

Petro’s agenda for this national discussion that may lead to a constituent also includes “adaptation to the climate crisis,” “reform of Justice,” “political reform” and “the pact for a productive economy.”

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Finally, the president proposes “judicial truth and social forgiveness for a definitive peace,” which he considers could be the closure of the long period of the Colombian conflict, since the president not only has several peace processes open with illegal armed groups, but also considers that the State is not complying with the agreement signed in 2016 with the former FARC guerrilla.

Last March Petro proposed, during an event in Cali (southwest), the convening of a National Constituent Assembly if its reforms are not approved in Congress, starting from the idea that the people, as a primary constituent, want it.

Since then, that idea has been a reason for national controversy because the opposition considers that the 1991 Constitution contains the tools to make the necessary changes and therefore it is not necessary to reform it, and they see in Petro’s proposal an intention to seek re-election or extend his four-year presidential term that ends on August 7, 2026.

The discussion took force yesterday after Christ, confirming his appointment as Minister of the Interior, announced that he will seek agreements with the different forces of the country that lead to the convening of a constituent.

Cristo, a veteran politician who was a senator for 16 years and Minister of the Interior during the term of Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018), assured in a statement that one of his fundamental purposes will be “the search for a true national agreement that allows the possibility of convening a Constituent National Assembly under the parameters of the Constitution of ’91 to be explored into the future.”

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One of the first to reject that project yesterday was former President Iván Duque (2018-2022), who assured that an eventual convocation of a Constituent Assembly in Colombia seeks to perpetuate Petro in power.

“A National Constituent Assembly aims to perpetuate in power the current Government and the Historical Pact (official coalition). The ‘National Agreement’ is a facade to provoke an institutional rupture,” Duque said in his account of X.

Former President Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010), also rejected Petro’s plan and assured: “There is no reason for Colombia to have more delays and decades lost with constitutional uncertainty.”