HIGHLIGHTS OF CONGRESSIONAL SESSION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 006143 SIPDIS SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/24/2015 TAGS: PGOV ECON KJUS CO SUBJECT: HIGHLIGHTS OF CONGRESSIONAL SESSION REF: A. BOGOTA --- (PENSION REFORM) ¶B. BOGOTA 5619 ¶C. BOGOTA 4467 ¶D. BOGOTA 3922 Classified By: DCM Milton K. Drucker, Reasons: 1.4 B & D. ¶1. (C) Summary: Despite a slow start, Congress completed work on several major pieces of legislation, including the Justice and Peace Law (demobilization),pension reform, implementing legislation for presidential reelection and associated level-playing field guarantees, enhanced legal protection for foreign investment, and reduction of paperwork and bureaucracy. President Uribe's politically- and ideologically-allied majorities came through on the above issues. Executive-Legislative relations continued to be tense overall, however. A clear example was the formal censure motion against Defense Minister Uribe. The next Congressional session will begin July 20. End Summary. The Good -------------- ¶2. (U) Congress finished work on some 15 major pieces of legislation during the session that ran from March 15-June ¶20. Highlights were: --Justice and Peace (septel): Creates a much-needed legal framework for demobilization of the paramilitaries. --Pension reform (Ref A): Pivotal on fiscal grounds (to save USD 17 billion over next 50 years),this Constitutional reform ends special regimes (except for teachers, the President and the Armed Forces),caps the highest pensions, and ends an extra monthly payment for the highest pension earners. Savings, however, were only half of those originally sought, prompting calls for further reform in the future. --Reelection implementing: Removed the prohibition on the sitting President from engaging in campaign activities; up-front state financing for each candidate for half of the campaign spending limit; better access to media for the opposition and prohibition on TV coverage of the President's weekly community council meetings. --Foreign investment protection (septel): In essence assures foreign investors that legal rules will not be changed once they establish operations/activities in Colombia. --Paperwork and bureaucracy reduction: Eliminates or reduces some 80 procedural and paperwork requirements (known locally as "tramites") affecting individuals. What Did Not Pass -------------- ¶3. (SBU) A revised electoral code to regulate the 2006 Presidential and Congressional elections fell by the wayside, primarily owing to lack of time for proper debate and consideration. The elections will most likely be regulated by decree, as was the case with 2003 departmental/local elections. Use of preferential voting and the D'Hondt divisor method (see Ref C for details) are now in limbo. Congress considered a motion of censure action against Minister of Defense (MOD) Jorge Alberto Uribe for failing to appear to testify on more than one occasion when requested by Congress. While the motion failed, the House vote was 81 (of 166 total members) against the MOD (although members knew the motion would not carry in the Senate). Strong or moderately strong GOC loyalists number roughly 115 in the House, yet many voted against a key member of the Administration. Several did so (they told us privately, while others vented in the press) to send a message to the GOC not to take its "allies" for granted. There was also speculation that some in the Armed Forces, uncomfortable with the MOD's recent firing of four generals, wanted to send a signal that such shake ups come with costs. On the same day as the censure motion vote, a major reform to streamline administration of justice was shelved owing in part to the public defection of several prominent "Uribistas." The move was viewed as another retaliation by disenchanted Uribistas, in particular House Speaker Zulema Jattin. Bills to reform the Department of Administrative Security (DAS; FBI-equivalent) and Defense Ministry were also shelved. ¶4. (SBU) The Senate resisted calls for a public debate on immunities issues for U.S. soldiers but individual members publicly criticized the existing U.S.-Colombia bilateral agreement and documented several thorny cases. Leftist Rep. Gustavo Petro organized a heated debate on alleged GOC and local government complicity with paramilitaries in Sucre Department. Several shouting matches and walkouts by members of the opposition took place in both houses in the context of debates on both Justice and Peace and reelection implementing legislation. Pension reform came close to last minute death when Uribista Senators broke quorum during a televised session, in order not to be associated with a cutback in existing pension benefits. Comment -------------- ¶5. (C) The final weeks of the session saw the traditional flurry of legislative activity. Congressional tradition is to convene only Tuesdays and Wednesdays in Bogota. Major bills, in particular Justice and Peace and pensions, emerged largely because the GOC needed them and launched an all-out effort during the last week of the session. Executive-legislative relations, traditionally one of President Uribe's Achilles' heels, continue strained, however. This stems in large part from Uribe's at times heavy-handed treatment of even his most loyal Congressional allies, and occasional conflicts even within government positions. WOOD