Colombia’s President Ivan Duque said Thursday that he will seek approval of all measures proposed by an anti-corruption coalition of mainly opposition politicians.
In a referendum on Sunday, the coalition failed to acquire the 12.1 million votes necessary to obligate the government to implement seven measures to curb corruption in Congress.
Colombia, the country that voted against a peace process, fails to vote against corruption
Nevertheless, the 11.7 million votes former Senator Claudia Lopez and her coalition did receive exceeded the number of people who voted Duque into office in June.
President Ivan Duque
According to the president, the referendum results created a sense that “we must all contribute to this great effort to root out corruption.”
Consequently, his government will ask Congress to approve all seven measures sought in the referendum, Duque told press after the meeting.
The proposed anti-corruption measures
President Ivan Duque
The president additionally announced the creation of an anti-corruption round-table that will be presided by Interior Minister Nancy Patricia Gutierrez and include representatives of both the coalition and the opposition.
This commission will be in charge of securing the congressional approval for the proposals that seek to curb the rampant corruption that, according to the Inspector General, costs Colombia’s tax payers at least $16 billion per year.
President Ivan Duque
“We made it!” Lopez said on Twitter. “President Ivan Duque, all parties and the promoters of the anti-corruption referendum have agreed to approve an anti-corruption package.”