President Gustavo Petro speaks out after the Senate's decision: "The referendum by decree remains in effect."

With 52 votes against and 2 in favor, the 2.0 referendum presented by the government of President Gustavo Petro, which included questions related to labor reform and health reform, was defeated in the Senate plenary session.

The president reacted to this new defeat in the legislature: “ According to this Senate vote, the opponents of the referendum never had a majority for the referendum, as we stated, and they didn't have one when the first referendum was voted on and fraud was committed. Only two people betrayed the grand coalition in favor of workers' rights and completed the quorum; if not, we would be two days away from holding a referendum on questions about the health system.”

The head of state assured that the popular participation mechanism established by decree remains in effect until the vote on the labor reform conciliation.

"The referendum by decree remains in effect until the conciliation vote on the bill. Today the country can be certain: there was always a majority in the Senate for the referendum," he stated on his X account.

Let's remember that the first time the referendum failed was on May 14th, with a vote of 49 against and 47 in favor. After this opportunity, the government announced it would be called by decree.

That happened last week, and on Friday, June 13, they presented it to the National Registry to call for elections. However, today, the national registrar, Hernán Penagos, announced that he will request a ruling from the Council of State regarding the "decree" and that he will not call Colombians to the polls until the high court issues a ruling.

" We are facing a legal controversy that has no precedent in the modern history of Colombia. But, on the other hand, we are facing a material difficulty, because organizing a referendum of the magnitude of the one being called here requires very careful planning, which must be carried out with the utmost rigor," the official stated at a press conference on Tuesday, June 17.

Penagos acknowledged that the country is facing a "legal problem" because the views of the government and Congress are conflicting, so he believes it is necessary for the courts to resolve this situation and have the final say. "The Registry cannot accept the views of one party and ignore those of the other," the head of the Registry emphasized.

President Gustavo Petro has repeatedly stated that he will drop the referendum by decree if the labor reform is approved as it was in the House of Representatives.

Just today, before the collapse of the 2.0 referendum, the Senate approved the government's labor reform, revived a few weeks ago, with 56 votes in favor and 31 against .

Key articles were approved in the discussion, such as the apprenticeship contract, Article 11 to advance the nighttime surcharge to 7 p.m. (today it begins at 9 p.m.), and an increase in Sunday and holiday pay from 75 to 100 percent (Article 15).

Now all that remains is for the Senate and House texts to be reconciled before the end of the legislative session on June 20. House Speaker Jaime Raúl Salamanca has stated that he will appoint the conciliators tomorrow.

"The Chamber's General Secretariat team is focused tonight on appointing conciliators to "save" more than 15 legislative bills initiated by congressmen. #UsefulLaws. In addition, they are organizing tomorrow's agenda as the last session to approve the final debated legislative bills. Today we are not appointing conciliators for the labor reform. We will do so first thing tomorrow morning," he said on his X account.

Maria Alejandra Gonzalez Duarte