Roy Barreras: "There will be elections, but there are misguided, delusional voices in the government that are generating unnecessary noise."

Former Colombian senator and ambassador to London, Roy Barreras, spoke with EL TIEMPO regarding Gustavo Petro's three years in power at the Casa de Nariño.

Barreras, who as president of Congress swore in the current head of state on August 7, 2022, asserts that there will be elections in 2026, but calls for the cabinet to cease the voices that are causing the president trouble and insists that work be intensified during the last twelve months of his term.

"If you look objectively, most of the leaders of the democratic left are preparing for elections. The country knows this; the Historic Pact is preparing its own referendum in October, where there will be a left-wing candidate, a broad front with participation from liberal sectors will be proposed. That's democracy. So what's being prepared is a peaceful, democratic handover," Barreras stated in the conversation, which will be published this Sunday in the print editions, on the web, and on EL TIEMPO's YouTube channel.

And he adds: "There are voices—I've said—that are mistaken, delusional, that generate unnecessary noise. That's why I believe this is Petro's year, because it's the year in which he has the opportunity—and he will do so, I'm sure—to reaffirm his commitment to democracy and to the institutions. And it's also the year in which he has the opportunity to fulfill his promise, to make it a reality, to advance even further in the change. It's a key year if the team that accompanies him, instead of tweeting delusions, dedicates itself to working."

The question to the former senator comes in light of the calls for reelection from some government officials, including Chief of Staff Alfredo Saade, as well as the criticism of the Registry Office from President Gustavo Petro himself.

Barreras was one of the key figures in Gustavo Petro's 2022 presidential victory, and his work as president of Congress during the first term was instrumental in the passage of the first reforms, including the creation of the Ministry of Equality and the "total peace" law.