Colombian president asks cabinet to resign ahead of reshuffle - sources


  • World
  • Wednesday, 26 Apr 2023

Colombian President Gustavo Petro attends an international conference on the political crisis in Venezuela, at Palacio de San Carlos in Bogota, Colombia April 25, 2023. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez

BOGOTA (Reuters) -Colombia's President Gustavo Petro has asked his cabinet ministers to resign ahead of a reshuffle, two sources told Reuters late on Tuesday, as the leftist leader said he had lost his majority coalition in Congress.

Petro's decision followed upset in Colombia's House of Representatives after a debate on the president's controversial health reform was abandoned after not reaching the necessary quorum. Some parties in the government's coalition threatened not to approve the original bill.

"The political coalition agreed as a majority has ended today due to decisions of some party presidents," Petro said in a message via Twitter late on Tuesday.

"Such a situation leads us to a rethinking of the government," he said in a subsequent Tweet.

The reshuffle could see the departure of some of Petro's 18 ministers, as well as movements of others to different portfolios, said one of the sources.

A number of Petro's ministers, including Minister of Mines and Energy Irene Velez, have faced harsh criticism since Petro took office nearly nine months ago on promises to make sweeping social and economic reforms.

Petro has largely backed his ministers, including Velez, though disagreement over the health reform proposal already lead to the exit of the education minister, Alejandro Gaviria.

Interior Minister Alfonso Prada could be take over as defense minister, said one government source who declined to be identified. Others, including Velez, could hold on to their posts, the source said.

(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra and Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Oliver Griffin and Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Michael Perry)

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!
   

Next In World

Putin's spy chief warns West against direct military conflict with Russia
Kremlin says 'absurd' to suggest Russia involved in Baltic Sea cable damage
Once again, polls underestimated Trump. Experts only have a hunch why
Chile's rare salt flat fish faces threat from lithium mining project
Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan gets bail in state gifts case, his party says
At least 50 insurgents killed, seven Nigerian officers missing after convoy attack
France's Le Pen threatens to topple government on cost-of-living concerns
Pope to make late Italian millennial Carlo Acutis a saint in April
Russia detains German man accused of blowing up gas distribution pipe
Reaction to Putin's approval of a new Russian nuclear doctrine

Others Also Read