The Green Alliance party remains deeply divided between congressmen who support President Gustavo Petro and those who have decided to remain independent or even in opposition. A few days before the start of the new legislature, the Greens have still not agreed on who will be the new president of the House of Representatives, a position that will be theirs starting July 20, and which will be key to the future of the government’s social reforms. However, despite the fact that the division persists, the race has been decided. A week ago there were six candidates, today there are only two left: Katherine Miranda, formerly an ally of Petro and now a vehement opponent, and Jaime Raúl Salamanca, who was chosen this week from among his colleagues to represent an option more aligned with the government.
The president of the board of directors is important because he has the power to establish the agenda, manage the debates and determine the rules of the sessions. In practice, he can choose which projects he gives priority to and which he postpones or leaves undebated. For this reason, it is necessary for the Government to keep an ally in office, as it had with David Racero during the first year of Congress, and with Andrés Calle in the second.
Jaime Raúl Salamanca is a representative to the House for the department of Boyacá, very close to Governor Carlos Amaya, who in recent months has become an ally of Petro—despite having supported Rodolfo Hernández in the 2022 electoral campaign. In the last legislative year, Salamanca was the president of the Sixth Commission of the Chamber and supported important government projects such as pension and health reform in plenary sessions. “Don’t count on me to make Petro’s project fail. There is a mandate for change that we must all listen to,” Salamanca wrote on his X account, after the meeting in which the other green congressmen withdrew their candidacy for the presidency of the corporation to support him.
The meeting to elect Salamanca was attended by Martha Alfonso, Duvalier Sánchez, Wilmer Castellanos and Santiago Osorio, all representatives of the Green Party close to the Government. After reaching an agreement, the congressmen met this Wednesday with President Petro and the new Minister of the Interior, Juan Fernando Cristo. There, Salamanca’s candidacy was made official. Martha Alfonso then explained the reasons for her support for the representative from Boyacá: “We have decided to support his candidacy because of his commitment to reforms and his ability to achieve majorities in the corporation.” Duvalier Sánchez explained that Salamanca committed himself to his fellow members of the bench and to the party to comply with three fundamental agreements: “Guarantee a transparent presidency, which recovers the confidence and legitimacy of the Chamber; promote a plural, respectful and organized debate on the social reforms that the country requires; and bring Congress closer to the citizens and the regions. Product of dialogue and consensus.”
At the end of the meeting between the congressmen and the Government, Minister Cristo said that the executive would not interfere in the decision of the Greens between the two finalist candidates, and that he hoped that the party would reach an agreement to propose a single candidacy.
That scenario, however, seems impossible just a few days before the election. Katherine Miranda has been campaigning for several months and does not seem willing to give up her candidacy. In fact, on her social networks she criticized the meeting between President Petro and his fellow party members: “Where is the separation of powers? The Green Party cannot lend itself to disrespecting the autonomy of the branches of power. That would be the end of the party.” Her colleague and ally, Caterine Juvinao, joined in the criticism: “How far is this government going: interfering in the decision of the Green Party – Centro Esperanza, separately citing some congressmen with the advisor who handles the Palace computer. Is this the national dialogue, Minister Cristo? Subduing with jam?” President Petro responded: “Excuse me, representative. I am by popular vote the head of the Government; the Green Party decided by majority to be the Government party. Then, by syllogism, I meet as head of Government with a Government party.”
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This week, Miranda received the support of ten representatives of her bench, which in addition to the Green Party includes the Dignity and Commitment movement, the New Liberalism and Verde Oxígeno. The congresswoman who in 2022 had one of the highest votes in Congress has won the votes of the opposition parties, but she knows that in the Chamber they are not enough because the Government maintains the majority. “My presidency will be a guarantor with all political parties and movements. Therefore, I am neither from the opposition nor from the government. It will be an independent presidency,” Miranda said a few days ago in conversation with EL PAÍS.
His campaign speech for the presidency of the House has consisted, above all, in presenting himself as the option furthest from Petro and thus winning the votes of the Democratic Center and Radical Change, the two opposition benches that add up to 34 of the 187 votes. But Miranda continues to seek support from the other groups outside of Petro’s party. “I have had the opportunity to meet with different parties, it is about providing guarantees to everyone,” he said. For now, everything seems to indicate that the presidency of the House will be decided vote by vote, and it will be the first scenario to measure the strength with which the Government starts this new legislature.
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