ONE day after the debate on the presentations on the health reform project begins in the Seventh Commission of the House, the political panorama for the initiative is even more complicated.
Although there was no official confirmation, yesterday it emerged that the Government was trying to seek contacts with directors and congressmen of the Liberal, Conservative and U parties in order to advance the possibility of convincing them to change their position regarding voting negatively the official project.
According to what was indicated in high political sources, several ministers, headed by the head of the Interior, Alfonso Prada, between Saturday and Sunday tried to establish these contacts, although until last night the results of said management were not known.
The Casa de Nariño would be insisting that during the debate of the papers, a part of the adjustments in which these three parties insist as a condition to support the reform could be accommodated.
As you know, there are three presentations. The first is the official party, filed on March 31. There is also a refusal, supported by the Democratic Center and Radical Change. And the last one is an alternative, proposed by the liberals.
After warnings from conservatives, liberals and the U, that the Government only accepted 22% of the observations and rejected 77%, the head of the Health portfolio, Carolina Corcho, said that this is not the responsibility of the Government. task, but it is already a task of Congress.
As is known, the 133 proposed modifications focus on six fundamental aspects: 1. Articulation of a mixed health system; 2. Creation and definition of the functions and remuneration of the Health and Life Managers so that they are administrators of the integral risk in health, operational, including contracting and auditing that guarantees their permanence over time. 3. Establish a sufficient and differential UPC in terms of territories and epidemiological risk. 4. Guarantee the free choice of users. 5. Integrated and comprehensive service networks must range from CAPS to medium and high complexity. 6. Funds account without bureaucracy.
Rifirrafe
On the other hand, the director of the U, Dilian Francisca Toro, had to respond to a trill from the senator of the Polo Democrático Wilson Arias, who, bringing up a journalistic complaint against the political leader when she was governor of Valle, regarding alleged acts of corruption with payments to hospitals, warned that “… Toro & Cía have well-founded and long-standing reasons to defend the health of all Colombians. It’s really no joke!”
“Senator Arias, spreading infamy, false news, slander that I have already put in the hands of justice, is not the way to seek dialogue to discuss a health reform that saves lives. I am a doctor and I risk it for the health of Colombians; you do politicking,” Toro replied.
In the meantime, there were more reactions to the decision of the liberal representative Dolcey Torres, who on Saturday announced his support for the health project, despite the order to the contrary from the sole head of the community, former president César Gaviria.
“For consistency with my principles and in accordance with my public positions, I announce my resignation as spokesperson for the Liberal party in the House of Representatives. I cannot defend positions that I do not share and my convictions call me to support the health reform”, said the parliamentarian.
The representative and rapporteur for the reform in the Seventh Commission, Marta Alfonso, of the Historical Pact, reacted to this. “Dear colleague Torres. You are on the right side of life, of the people who are calling for a health reform in Colombia; on the side of the hospitals, which in most humble municipalities is the only thing they have to care for the life and health of the people. Thank you, representative.”
Thus, the paper that supports the Historical Pact, Greens, peace seats and Commons would only be missing one or two votes to obtain the eleven endorsements required in the Seventh Commission to advance the project in the first debate.
For his part, Senator David Luna, from Cambio Radical, specified that “building better health is possible. From Cambio Radical we propose three central axes that would strengthen it: primary and preventive care; coverage, service and territorialization; and infrastructure, specialists and insurance”.
More resignations?
On Saturday versions circulated that the Government would have extended the requests for resignation to vice-ministers and officials of the Liberal, Conservative and U parties, who despite being from the Petrista parliamentary coalition, warn that they will not vote positively for the pro-government paper due to because the adjustments to the articles that had been agreed with President Petro were not included.
As is known, on Friday it was announced that the Executive urged the letters of resignation to the Vice Ministers of Housing, representing the Liberal party, Felipe Arbouin and Aníbal José Pérez. As well as Carlos Eduardo Enríquez and María Constanza García, Vice Ministers of Transportation on behalf of the Conservative Party; also to the vice ministers Nohora Mercado and Sergio Octavio Valdés, in the Ministry of ICT on behalf of the U.
However, yesterday it was indicated that Vice Minister García would not have been asked for that resignation, under the thesis that it is not a conservative quota.
On Saturday it emerged that Roger Carrillo, president of Coljuegos, who comes from conservatism, was also asked to resign.
The same would be happening with other senior officials from agencies and institutes.
Over the weekend, the reactions to this request for resignations – which should be formalized today, the first business day of the week – were found.
For opposition spokesmen, it is a kind of “blackmail” and undue pressure from the government on the center-right parties of their coalition.
There were even some voices that considered that, since in the Green Alliance there are also buts to the health reform, the Casa de Nariño should also proceed to remove bureaucratic quotas.
For the moment, everything seems to indicate that starting tomorrow it will begin to define whether to maintain or break the government parliamentary coalition. It is not ruled out, even, that some parties can get out of it in the midst of the strong debate on health, pension and labor reforms.
A harmful project: former minister Ruiz
Former Health Minister Fernando Ruiz not only stressed that the paper on the reform was filed on March 31 “almost stealthily” and without taking into account the comments of the parties.
“It is a harmful bill, which has very critical connotations for the Colombian population. That is where we Colombians must be clear about what this represents. They want to sell us a public, nationalized system, where the State becomes the guarantor, in quotes, of health services. And a system that does not offer possibilities to improve or build on what we have built, ”he added.
Ruiz insisted that the Government wants to present the Spanish health system as an example, despite the “crisis in which it finds itself: almost 800,000 patients have been waiting for surgery for more than six months, waiting appointments for more than 95 days , more than nine days to have a consultation with a family doctor or a general practitioner. All this with a completely bureaucratized, petrified public structure, which is what this project promises us”.
“Colombians must be aware of what this means and make the National Government understand the rejection of this project and the possibility that Congress has of actually passing a law that is very harmful to the Colombian population. That message must reach Congress and we must transmit it all in the protection of our social security and that of our families, ”he pointed out.