The National Trade Union Council assured that it is concerned that the call to march this Tuesday, February 14, be made by the National Government, in support of a package of social reforms whose content is still unknown.
Therefore, the country’s unions call on President Gustavo Petro, «who has the constitutional obligation to symbolize national unity and guarantee citizen access to the content of said bills, so that citizens, under their own judgments and opinions decide to support them or not«.
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The Trade Union Council said that citizens and democratic institutions have the right to know with enough time the texts proposed by the executive to be able to assess social and economic impacts of these initiatives.
Likewise, it is the duty of citizens to respect and support the legitimately constituted democratic authorities such as the Congress of the Republic, to maintain independence and institutional integrity.
According to the Trade Council, the reforms that will affect millions of Colombians they must be analyzed in the constitutionally defined spaces that allow a healthy debate with arguments and figures.
«Transferring the debate to the streets, promoting horizontal interference between the branches of public power puts the institutional framework at risk, especially the exercise of the constitutional functions of the Congress of the Republic. Additionally, it generates risks of confrontations, and even of violence and vandalism among the citizens,» he added.
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So far in 2023, close to 121 blockades in 20 departments of Colombia, which have generated a paralysis in mobility of approximately 2,121 hours, increasing the productivity and competitiveness of the country, suffering millions in losses to the economy and inflationary impacts that end up assuming citizenship.
That is why the National Trade Union Council invited the Government «to use institutional channels so that, within the framework of the Constitution and the Law, a democratic, informed and participatory debate is guaranteed in the Congress of the Republic, respecting the separation of powers and the pillars of the democratic system».
