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The director of the U Party talks about the projects for this legislative period and the steps to build a center-right coalition with a view to 2022. She will meet with César Gaviria next week.
In the midst of the pre-electoral race that various political movements have been advancing, some more silently and others more publicly, the U Party met yesterday around the plans for the legislative period that will begin on March 16 and, of course , to talk about 2022. Like everyone else, the director of the community, Dilian Francisca Toro, assured that the idea is to arrive with a candidate for the Presidency, however, they are not closed to alliances.
Read more: Party of the U will go with its own candidate for presidential election.
What was discussed at the meeting of the benches in relation to 2022?
I gave them a report of the meetings that I have been having with the Conservative Party and the others that I have held in the regions, which have not been so much about electoral mechanics, but about the concern of the problems we are experiencing. I have been in conversations with various people on all country issues. For example, next week I will meet with former President César Gaviria.
Among those meetings that Álvaro Uribe Vélez mentions, what did they talk about? What did he propose to him about 2022?
We are not talking about electoral mechanics when we meet like two months ago. We talked about the country’s problems, tax reform, bills, security and economic issues.
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In addition to you, Uribe has sought meetings with other figures of great weight on the political scene in an imminent pre-electoral year. Do you think that he no longer has the strength he had before and that is why he is seeking closeness with other sectors?
That is an assessment that former President Uribe has to make within his bench. He will make the decisions that he sees fit for his party and the country.
In the event that they come to form an alliance with Uribism, would you yield to the candidate they impose or will you insist on their conditions?
What we have spoken in the party is that we must have a presidential candidate, that we would be willing to participate in a consultation with other parties in which we identify ourselves ideologically. We are in that process and looking at which electoral mechanism we will use for it. We have not spoken or agreed that we are going to support what the Democratic Center tells us. No, we have our own decisions as a bench, and I will have to abide by them.
In those meetings with uribism and conservatism, in the case of an alliance, how to agree on issues as structural as the Peace Agreement is for the U, of which they have been so opposed?
For us, security is very important, unity for social transformation, because we believe that it is time to listen to people and provide solutions, and, of course, peace, because it is a legacy that we have and we must maintain it. If we are going to have a coalition, whatever it is, we are going to defend those democratic values. We all have differences, but we have to wait what happens.
So, are they not going to give in on the importance of the Peace Agreement in the event of an alliance?
No. We would not give it up.
In addition to the meeting with Uribe, you have met with former regional leaders in what is called a regional coalition. What has been defined so far with Alejandro Char or Federico Gutiérrez, to name a few?
There is nothing definite. All we are doing is talking. We are concerned about the situation we are experiencing in our regions, which is where the problem is really palpable. We are considering how to recover the economy, have social justice, inclusion. We have not talked about electoral mechanics.
With the “regional coalition”, do you want the next president to be from the region? In other words, if you make an electoral alliance, wouldn’t you present a candidate from Bogotá?
More than that, is that the National Government is decentralized. Bogota citizens are also from the region because people come to this city from all over the country. What we try is that public policies can be made from the region, that there is decentralized competence and resources to be able to carry out an important job in the municipalities and departments.
Next year they will not have Roy Barreras or Armando Benedetti to aspire to Congress for the U, two important weights. Will they be necessary?
Always, anywhere, some leave and others arrive. Many have arrived. We have to wait, we still have a year to go and at this time we are trying to strengthen the party in the different regions of the country.
Who have arrived?
Ángela Hernández, the former candidate for the Government of Santander, a person from Meta and we have also been working with the previous candidates of the party for the Senate who are going to re-present themselves to that corporation.
In the U the division between its congressmen closest to the Government and the opponents was known. Without Benedetti and Barreras, does that fight turn off?
As I said, we have been working in a very united way. I see working together and supporting each other.
Will they support tax reform?
First, the tax reform has not been presented to us, apparently in eight days we are going to have a bench meeting to present it to us. From my considerations, it has to be a social reform that, in addition to providing income to the Government, reactivates the economy and creates employment. We do not share the issue of VAT on the family basket and we would not support it. We already have some proposals, but we are waiting to hear about the Government’s project. One of them is that we want a tax amnesty, instead of having VAT to the basket.
