Gustavo Petro attacks the Senate again for denying the referendum: "The people must become the primary constituent."

President Gustavo Petro accused the Senate of receiving money to deny the referendum his government presented on labor reform.

This was stated by the head of state on his account on the social network X on the night of Thursday, May 15, 24 hours after the Senate majorities, in a democratic vote, denied the possibility of calling the people to the polls to answer the 12 questions posed by the Executive.

"Money flowed so members of the Senate could obstruct working people's right to a better life. No institution is legitimate when it goes against the general interest," the president said. However, he made that claim without presenting any evidence to support it.

The government was defeated this Wednesday, May 15, in the Senate plenary session, where 49 senators voted "no" to the referendum, while 47 voted "yes." The Nariño Senate has spoken of alleged fraud, but so far there is insufficient evidence to confirm this. However, the executive branch has already announced legal action against the president of the Senate, the conservative Efraín Cepeda, and the secretary general, Diego Alejandro González.

The ruling party is also calling for demonstrations across the country following the Senate's democratic decision.

In his tweet—which he wrote from China, where he has advanced his agenda this week—the president insisted that the national Constitution prohibits individual members of Congress from going against the general interest. But this time, dozens of members of Congress, led by what calls itself "the gang," a sector of the Senate that claimed to be the majority, ended up, according to him, violating the fundamental principles of the Constitution.

Along these lines, he again called on the Constitutional Court not to scuttle the pension reform, which was approved by Congress and is currently in the hands of the high court, which is evaluating possible procedural flaws during its approval by the plenary session of the House of Representatives. The decision is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

May the spirit of the 1991 Constitution enlighten the Court and save millions of elderly people from their sadness and loneliness.

"I hope the spirit of the 1991 Constitution shines upon the Court and saves millions of elderly people from their sadness and loneliness, and restores institutions that have been placed at odds with the Constitution," Petro said.

He also attacked Cepeda, as well as Iván Name, the former president of Congress for the Green Alliance, currently imprisoned in Bogotá's La Picota prison for allegedly receiving bribes from the government itself to facilitate the passage of pension reform.

"Mr. Iván Name and Mr. Efraín Cepeda, along with their friends, would have sunk the social reforms the people need years ago. I don't know what the people who cast their votes for these individuals think, but they should reflect deeply on their vote. Electing people capable of harming millions of people is pure suicide. Don't elect executioners anymore," the president added.

In his extensive post, President Petro reiterated the call for a strike being promoted by the Casa de Nariño following the defeat of the referendum.

"There is a right to strike established for workers in the Constitution, from a strike of a few hours to an indefinite one. Working people have the right to demand that their employers stop financing congressmen to vote against their own employees, seeking easy profits based on exploitation. A society can declare an indefinite national strike when a state reaches the point of maximum separation from society and must be completely replaced," wrote the head of state, who will return to the country this weekend and hopes to lead a large demonstration in Barranquilla on Monday to protest the Senate's decision.

In another section of the publication, President Petro mentioned the national agreement he has been talking about for more than two years, but which has made little progress.

"The experience I've had with my proposal for a national agreement is that both union leaders—who are actually politicians—and the big players have mocked it. They haven't cared at all about the shift in popular consciousness that has been developing in the country since 2021. If there's no agreement, there must be social struggle until they realize that it's cheaper and more profitable to build the great pact of democracy and social justice," said the President. However, the sectors mentioned by the president have insisted that it's the head of state who hasn't been the most willing to make a great national pact and, on the contrary, has raised the tone of the confrontation.

"The gang managed to deceive the referendum because it has the support of the "cocoas" (pro-independence) party, which mocked the option of a national agreement," the president said in one of the final points of his message.

"The referendum only sought to approve decent labor standards. I believe what happened leads us to a larger referendum, but not to push through a law. Now, the people of Colombia must become primary constituents," he wrote, clarifying that "not to reelect me—which is what scares the cacao industry and its media—nor to change the 1991 Constitution, but to change the laws made by mafia paramilitaries and corruption. If you don't want one cup, you'll get two."