The Government of President Gustavo Petro today presented the draft of a bill to convene a National Constituent Assembly, arguing that the mechanism is the only way to carry out the transformations that the country needs in the face of an “institutional blockade.” The announcement was made by the Minister of Justice, Eduardo Montealegre, from Shanghai, China, where he is on an official visit.
Minister Montealegre pointed out that the 1991 Constitution has become “obsolete” in some aspects and that “others [normas] “They are used by deeply retarded sectors to destroy social achievements.” For this reason, the project seeks a “constituent process that transforms the country and provides it with new institutions that respond to the needs of the 21st century.”
Special Powers and Composition of the Body
The draft of the project grants the President of the Republic extraordinary powers for a period of six months to issue regulations with the force of law that define the requirements and democratic mechanisms to present the lists of candidates.
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The document details that the Assembly will be made up of 71 delegates, coming from different social sectors, with 44 of them elected by national constituency.
Although the draft insists that Congress will not be revoked, the Assembly would have the power to reform the entire Political Constitution. However, clear limits are established: it must respect international treaties on human rights, the norms of Ius Cogens, and there will be a prohibition of regression or non-regression in matters of social rights.
The proposal establishes that the Assembly will meet for three months from its installation. The filing of this bill, in the midst of political polarization and President Petro’s previous calls for “constituent power”, has generated a deep legal and political debate about the limits of power in the current Colombian democratic framework.
What he promised so much that he would not do, is about to happen: Petro has the draft of the Constituent Assembly ready
Attention: The president’s government @petrogustavo This morning he presents the draft bill to convene a Constituent Assembly, to change the 1991 Constitution. The argument is what the government calls “institutional blockade.” There would be 71 delegates,… pic.twitter.com/smMVW6kEjB
— Ricardo Ospina (@ricarospina) October 23, 2025