Why are Colombian parliamentarians asking Petro to undergo a medical examination?

In response to the petition, the pro-government legislators criticized the absence of their conservative colleagues in the debates for legal reforms.

Several opposition congressmen, from the Cambio Radical and Centro Democratico parties, in Colombia, will present this Tuesday before Congress a request for a medical examination to be carried out on the president of the South American country, Gustavo Petro, in order to determine if he is fit to govern .

Chamber representative Carolina Arbelaez, from the Cambio Radical party, one of the petitioners, said, in statements to Blu Radio, that the objective of the request is “to establish why, what is the reason that leads the president to break your schedule for more than 85 times”.

“I think it is time for the country to find out if the president is having health mishaps,” added the legislator, who considers that “it is not normal” for these absences to occur.

The petition will be filed by Arbelaez, together with the parliamentarians of the Democratic Center Christian Garces and Juan Espinal.

The legislators propose to create a commission, made up of members of the National Academy of Medicine, the Colombian Medical Federation and the Medical Ethics Court to evaluate the president, in his physical and mental state, Arbelaez explained in the interview.

The legislator acknowledged that the president “is not bound by Colombian law” to undergo medical tests, but indicated that he does not see “any problem” with the request.

Answer

The official reaction was immediate. Historical legislators not only spoke out in defense of the president since the intentions of the opponents became known, but also highlighted the notable absences of the conservative bench in the debates in Congress.

In this line, the parliamentarians David Racero and Alfredo Mondragon criticized the failures of the opposition legislators in the debates on the social reforms that the Government has established.

“I love seeing those of Cambio Radical so concerned about the President’s health. Although I would have liked more that they had shown that same concern for health when they were hiding from the Health Reform debates sabotaging the quorum in Congress“Racero said.

For its part, Mondragon said that he hopes that Cambio Radical “worries about the absences of its congressmen due to fever of wanting the reforms to fall“.

He ironized that “this obsession with favoring the sick, with destroying the State, should lead the people to decide if they are fit to continue directing spaces of power.”