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Anyone who hears the senator speak for the Paloma Valencia Democratic Center is convinced that she is a political leader who is building a path to the Presidency of the Republic. When? It is not known, it may be in 2022 or not, only the passing of the months will tell.
In dialogue with EL TIEMPO, the Uribista congresswoman spoke about the situation of former president Álvaro Uribe, his party and presidential expectations.
How are you seeing everything that is happening with former President Uribe?
With great sadness. Whoever is next to former President Uribe knows that in his soul there is no room for any crime. The fact that Colombians today are in a situation in which the institutions generate distrust is worrying. I think that is bad for the country and he asks that work be done so that we have institutions that we can all trust.
(Read also: After Uribe’s resignation, do all roads lead to Tomás Uribe?)
Do you think that the change of jurisdiction to investigate it will give you more guarantees?
I don’t know, I hope so, but sometimes I think that in such a polarized country, the administration of justice is very difficult. I feel in the country a growth of speeches of polarization and hatred, especially against the Democratic Center, of an aggressiveness and virulence that are worrying.
You have been insistent on reforming the justice system, what is this idea about?
What we are seeing is that very few Colombians trust the judicial system. We believe that this is why a citizen participation mechanism can be used that allows us to build institutions that we can all trust. There had been talk of a Constituent Assembly, but due to various difficulties we see that a referendum can be the mechanism.
For you, Uribe’s resignation from Congress is the end of your stage in active politics?
I believe that President Uribe returned to electoral politics more than because he wanted to, for a matter of commitment to those of us who have been by his side. That is difficult to know, because it will depend on how the events unfold. Colombia lost its best senator and lost him due to the lack of guarantees. His resignation to me is a scandalous fact.
Whoever is next to former President Uribe knows that in his soul there is no room for any crime
How much will Uribe miss Uribe?
In the debates the party has shown that it has been learning. It is a party that has been in office for six years, is faithful to the doctrine of President Uribe and has behaved as it should. In the debates we are responding and acting cohesively.
Recommended: Paloma Valencia’s five phrases about former President Uribe)
What do you think that Tomás Uribe is getting closer to the Democratic Center?
I think it’s great. In a party in which one of the biggest wounds is the lack of loyalty to the ideas of former President Uribe, in which many have used his name, but few maintain his legacy, Tomás Uribe is a synonym of trust and unity, They are the eyes of President Uribe and it is the certainty that there is someone who, in his defense, is totally incorruptible and infallible in his loyalty to the President.
Tomás Uribe, son of former President Álvaro Uribe and who has approached the Democratic Center a few weeks ago.
Mauricio Moreno / TIME
Do you think that Tomás Uribe’s approach to the party is a sign that he will be the heir to the former president?
That will depend a lot on Tomás, on former President Uribe, on the party. It is difficult to predict what will happen, but I think that in the game we are all very clear that much more than the people, the important thing is that they represent the ideas. Who takes them seems to me to be totally secondary to the fact that these are the ideas that govern Colombia.
(Read also: The other door that was closed to ‘fracking’ in Congress)
Does the leading role that you have had in recent weeks in defending former President Uribe mean a path to the presidency in 2022?
I think it is too premature, two years before, to start talking about a presidential candidacy and much more having President Uribe imprisoned. I would say that today my priority is to see President Uribe free and taking his defense free. Now the priority is to respond to Colombians with solutions to this crisis. Then will come the time for the campaigns, which I hope will catch us in a period of reactivation and in a much more optimistic time.
Do you still intend to be President of the Republic?
A difficult question. I say something: I want to be president of Colombia and I always ask God to “just let me be a president if I can be a great president.” And when, as it will be when Colombians consider that I can serve them. I believe that politics, as I understand it, is not about imposing oneself, but about things arriving and what I believe is that we have to move forward. The only thing I want today, and which I believe is the duty of all politicians, is to propose solutions to Colombians.
Other policy news to read
– ‘Uribe has had the practice of changing his position with justice’
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– Controversy over the dispatch of US troops in Colombia
JUAN FRANCISCO VALBUENA G.
POLITICAL WRITING
