Colombia’s Vice President-elect says the government transition will take place in two stages

Bogota.- The president-elect of Colombia, José Manuel Restrepo, assured this Thursday during his visit to the Casa de Nariño that the transition between the outgoing and incoming governments will be carried out in two stages, from tomorrow until July 27.

“We are bringing a methodological proposal on how to operate with the sectoral committees (…) I am convinced that we have to start from tomorrow until July 27 to have the complete information in two stages,” asserted Restrepo.

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The vice president-elect and members of his team arrived this morning at the Casa de Nariño, the seat of the Executive branch, to meet with representatives of the current government to begin the transition, a process in which neither the current Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, nor the incoming one, Abelardo de la Espriella, are expected to participate, as they are located on opposite ideological shores.

Restrepo explained that the first stage of the process will serve to collect detailed information on the current situation of the State, which will initiate the second stage consisting of conducting general questions and reviews with the support of sectoral committees that will dialogue with their counterparts from the ruling party.

“This is a firm process where we will in no way stop conducting reviews, investigations, alerts, and actions that we must take regarding information about the various State entities,” said Restrepo, who was Minister of Finance between 2021 and 2022 during the Iván Duque administration (2018-2022).

Regarding the tax reform announced this week by the Petro administration to “overcome the fiscal deficit and guarantee the sustainability of public finances,” Restrepo requested that it not be submitted to Congress.

“We believe that such action by the current Government is unnecessary. It is an attribution that should correspond to the next government, to know what its fiscal adjustment proposal is,” the economist indicated.

This Thursday’s meeting formally begins the transition process between both administrations, which for the first time will take place without a meeting between the outgoing president and the future leader.