Following President Gustavo Petro's declaration of a 30-day economic and social emergency, Colombia's Senate has approved summoning all ministers to a political control debate on December 29. The hybrid session, set amid legislative recess, aims to examine the fiscal crisis and the decree's implications after Congress rejected tax reforms.
In a continuation of tensions over Colombia's fiscal challenges, the Senate of the Republic held an extraordinary virtual session on December 26, 2025—during the year-end legislative recess—to approve a summons for all ministers to attend a political control debate. Proposed by Senator Carlos Fernando Motoa (Cambio Radical), the session is scheduled for Sunday, December 29, at 10:00 a.m. in hybrid format.
This follows President Gustavo Petro's Decree 1390 of December 24, which declared the emergency to address a $16.3 trillion budget deficit after Congress sank financing bills. The debate will scrutinize the decree's necessity and the fallout from failed tax reforms.
The proposal received broad bipartisan support, including from Conservative, Centro Democrático, and even Pacto Histórico's Senator Isabel Cristina Zuleta, who noted it would clarify the fiscal situation and revenue shortfalls. Motoa emphasized: “Political control has no recess. It is a permanent constitutional function,” criticizing the normalization of emergencies amid legislative gridlock.
Senator Efraín Cepeda questioned the decree's basis, arguing no unforeseen events justified it. Senate President Lidio García Turbay defended legislative independence, countering Interior Minister Armando Benedetti's claims by citing Article 215 of the Constitution for extraordinary sessions.
Government figures, like Labor Minister Antonio Sanguino, criticized the summons' haste and García's role. These exchanges underscore deepening Executive-Legislative clashes, with implications for the decree's review by the Constitutional Court in January 2026.
