Colombia’s Conservative Party has announced its decision to leave the government coalition and become an opposition party, following tensions after the reshuffling of ministerial portfolios under President Gustavo Petro.
The party had taken this decision after consulting its members, who almost unanimously opted for the opposition rather than remaining in Petro’s coalition.
A week ago, Petro kicked out ministers and officials of the Conservative, Liberal, and De la Union por la Gente parties, ending the coalition government born in August when he took office.
The president of the Conservative Party, Efraín Cepeda, in declarations picked up by Radio Caracol, said his party would remain open to dialogue, despite not being part of the Government, especially in the matter of the health reform which has precipitated this political rupture, a proposal for which Cepeda has assured that his party has “blue lines” which they will not exceed.
“If those blue lines are accepted, we will submit again to the benches; there are the members of the commissions (…) who have also played an important role in studying this reform, and of course, we will listen to them, and they must be in the necessary meetings”, explained Cepeda.
The president of the now opposition party had already announced a consultation with his benches on the steps to be taken, for which he asked to keep “a cool head” when making decisions.
With information from LGI
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