The health reform of Gustavo Petro's Government is not dead, despite the fact that a few weeks ago the Seventh Commission of the Senate decided to sink it by an absolute majority. Senators Wilson Arias and Ferney Silva, of the Historical Pact, appealed the collapse of the bill.
The strategy consists of appealing the commission's decision so that the Senate plenary session decides whether to give it a new opportunity. This formula, stated in article 166 of the fifth law that regulates the functioning of Congress, had never been used in recent legislative history. It's an unusual formula, but it could be the last chance to revive the bill that President Petro has given the most importance to since he came to power. The President of Congress, Iván Name, appointed the presidents of the seven Senate commissions to study the appeal and issue a opinion on its origin. The conclusions of that group, which must meet this week, will not be mandatory. That is, in the end, it will be the majority of senators in the plenary session that will decide, by a clean vote, whether to accept the appeal. Ferney Silva, the newly inaugurated senator who arrived at the Capitol to replace the deceased Piedad Córdoba, agrees that the atmosphere in the plenary session is positive for the reform to be revived. Silva insists that there are 13 million people living in remote and rural areas of the country who cannot access the health system. Former Minister of Health and godmother of the reform, Carolina Corcho, also spoke about this alternative: "We are going to observe the political stature of the Senate, which must overcome irrational and obstructionist obstinacy, in the face of the urgent need to stop the financial crisis and health and initiate a transition towards a new health system,," she said.