MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Colombia's government objects to the law barring lower requirements for senior posts

The presidency's legal secretary, Andrés Barreto, said the initiative “encroaches on exclusive powers of the national government, such as barring the government from organising public employment.”

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella this week objected to the first bill sent to him for signature since he took office on August 7: legislation prohibiting any reduction in the minimum education and experience requirements for senior positions in the public sector and in companies with state participation.

The text, registered as bill 056 of 2024 in the Chamber of Representatives, was promoted by Hernán Cadavid, now a senator for the Centro Democrático, a party within the coalition backing the government, and had been approved by both chambers. The executive returned it to Congress on grounds of unconstitutionality and inadvisability, and asked that it be shelved or revised.

The presidency's legal secretary, Andrés Barreto, said the initiative “encroaches on exclusive powers of the national government, such as barring the government from organising public employment.” He also argued that Decree Law 770 of 2005 already sets mandatory minimum thresholds for such posts, making the new rule redundant, and that requiring three prior stages before each appointment — studies by the entity, by the public administration department and a binding opinion from the Council of State — “will paralyse the formation of management teams, delaying by months the execution of projects that are a priority for the country.”

The decision drew objections from within the government's own camp. Cadavid called it “baffling” and said the bill sought to prevent governments from arbitrarily lowering requirements. Former official Rafael Nieto Loaiza pointed to the contradiction with the “National Talent Bank” announced by the government so that access to public service would depend on ability, and recalled that the governing bloc had criticised the previous administration for amending job manuals to the same effect.

The objection coincides with questions over the executive's first appointments. These include the president's first wife, lawyer Yoly Beatriz Illidge, as deputy superintendent for notaries and registries; a married couple heading the Victims' Unit and the tax and customs authority; and businessman Jaime Andrés Uribe, founder of a rum brand and without a professional degree, as manager of the fund planned to administer reconstruction after the August 10 earthquake, valued at some 30 trillion pesos, close to 10 billion dollars.

At least six people from the law firm the president founded now hold posts in the executive, among them Barreto himself. Senator Daniel Briceño, of the Centro Democrático, questioned the appointment to head the National Planning Department on grounds of inexperience. Congress must now decide whether to accept the objections or insist on the bill.