Armando Benedetti: "The labor reform approved in the Senate is more progressive than what came out of the House."

Interior Minister Armando Benedetti spoke with EL TIEMPO about the approval of the labor reform during its fourth debate in the Senate. He said they will not insist on a referendum if the initiative passes the conciliation process and stated that he was satisfied with what was approved in the Senate.

He also insisted that registrar Hernán Penagos is a "coward" for not making a decision regarding the call for the referendum.

It's a great victory. What was approved in the Senate is much more important and more progressive than what came out of the House. The achievements made are true trophies for labor rights, for unions, among others. The achievement, the triumph, or the celebration depends on the conciliation, which must be announced between Thursday and Friday.

The truth is, we're missing the agricultural contract, and the right for women to be able to see a doctor if they experience a menstrual irregularity or severe pain. Those are the two things we were missing in the Senate. Otherwise, we did pretty well.

That doesn't mean that just because those two points aren't included means a consultation will be necessary; it wouldn't be necessary with everything that was approved this Tuesday.

Whether it would be at 6 or 7 was a source of much debate, as was whether there would be exceptions. It was one of the most difficult issues to get through, but it was approved in the Senate. We don't agree with those theories. The right always says that the lower the wages and the less taxes paid, the more jobs are created, but that's never happened. We couldn't implement a reform with exceptions.

Let the conciliation be voted on. Once the conciliation is voted on, the President—as he already said in a tweet—will repeal the referendum decree. When the conciliation is voted on, the President, by decree, will repeal the one that was called for August 7.

This has been quite tortuous. The consultation was crucial and crucial for the Senate to react in favor of debating the labor reform, and at the same time, the citizen demonstrations that took place in the streets.

The idea is for that date to become final, but it depends on the notification. The decree on extras must be based on a statement of reasons, and that statement of reasons is provided to me in the notification: the text of the Constitutional Court.

The Constitution says he's the organizer of the elections, and that's what I'm referring to. If you check, the Registrar doesn't even count the votes; he subcontracts them to a number of companies. Every citizen is obligated to comply with a presidential decree. What if, when the elections come, the President issues the decree and the Registrar says he doesn't want to hold them?

No, because all I'm telling you is to obey the law. I'm not being aggressive. Calling you a "political operative" isn't aggressive.

Cowardly, because he didn't make any decision. He had to make a decision: whether to comply or not. But hiding behind the Council of State, when there's a signed decree, and he says he doesn't want to comply because he'll wait for the Cortes to decide what's going to happen... that, in a social state governed by the rule of law, is unacceptable.

Yes. If the vote is held on Friday, the President will issue another decree repealing the current one.