By: Jaime Alberto Arrubla Paucar
The first year of the Government of Change has come to an end and we Colombians observe that it has not been possible to go from rhetoric to the practical execution of all the public policies announced to reduce the tremendous inequalities that exist in our nation. Except for the tax reform that went ahead thanks to the prestige one has when one is newly elected; Of which it is still affirmed that it was not necessary, everything else has been postponed and we will see in an administration that seems already in the sunset.
As various analysts have said, the country has continued its march thanks to the inertia it brought, which we do not know how far it will go. Let’s hope it lasts until at least the steering wheel required by the state of affairs at the moment is achieved.
The great problem of the Government has been its stubbornness and arrogance; The golden rule of governing, which is to create consensus around major public issues, has not been complied with; but the most serious thing is not recognizing that they came to power without parliamentary majorities and with a very slight difference with the hosts of the adversary, which represent another way of thinking of Colombians. The government team has been unstable, changeable and infected with the same egomania of who directs it.
The issue of health reform united Colombians against the government proposal; very good in the president’s speech, but lousy on paper. Definitely, working Colombians recognize the value of the health system and the IPS that intervene and do not want the changes proposed by the Government. It is true that health coverage in the countryside must be improved, but for this there is no reason to destroy that of the cities. The project is not moving forward and rightly so.
The labor reform sank because it was ill-conceived; it filled the productive centers with anxiety; It seemed taken from the annals of the most rancid union demand and led us to dry up the generation of employment. Hopefully the threat of resubmitting it leads to the reasonableness of a deep review. The pension was left in the inkwell.
The policy of total peace has filled the Colombian cities and countryside with insecurity. The image he projected was that of impunity; the same projected by the Government with its proposal to vacate the prisons. The farms are being invaded and the authority does not act; crime roams the streets. If it continues like this, the greatest irony is that a leftist government will be responsible for reviving paramilitaries.
The recent scandals about undue money entering the campaign of the Historical Pact threaten to destabilize and deconcentrate the Government, who in the future will have to dedicate itself to defending itself against attacks instead of governing, as has happened in similar circumstances in the past. Poor Colombia so immature in electoral processes.
The only thing that saves the Government at this moment is the reasonable fear that we all have, that if something happens to the president, we will be left in the hands of the Vice President.