Colombia The Executive
Figure 9. Government Structure, 1988
The president is elected every four years by direct
popular
vote and is constitutionally prohibited from seeking
consecutive
terms. A former president may, however, run again for the
presidency after sitting out one term. The president must
be a
native-born Colombian at least fifty-five years of age and
in full
possession of his or her political rights. The
Constitution also
requires the president to have had previous service as a
congressional or cabinet member, governor, or government
official;
as a university professor for five years; or as a
practicing member
of a liberal profession requiring a university degree.
As chief of state, the president oversees the executive
branch
of government, consisting of a thirteen-member cabinet,
various
administrative agencies, a developing bureaucracy, and
more than
100 semiautonomous or decentralized agencies, institutes,
and
corporations, generally known as institutos
decentralizados
(see
fig. 9). These appointive powers allow the president
to select
the cabinet and the chiefs of all the administrative
agencies
without the approval of either house of Congress. Under
Colombia's
unitary system of government, the president also appoints
and may
remove the governors of the twenty-three territorial
departments
and the heads of the nine national territories
(territorios). Unlike the departments, which have
limited
self-government, the national capital controls the
territories
directly through presidentially appointed officials.
Presidentially appointed commissions--composed of
government,
party, and interest group representatives--occasionally
played an
important role in policy making in the executive branch.
Their
findings were usually highly respected and often turned
into
pending legislation. Development-oriented and
well-qualified
technocrats (técnicos)--such as economists,
agronomists, and
engineers--also strengthened the executive branch in the
1980s by
staffing important decentralized government agencies.
These
included the National Planning Department (Departamento
Nacional de
Planeación), Monetary Board (Junta Monetaria), and the
Colombian
Institute of Agrarian Reform (Instituto Colombiano de
Reforma
Agraria--Incora). The expertise provided the president and
his
cabinet by the technocrats moderated the influence of
powerful
interest groups and enabled the chief executive to develop
complex
legislation. Although the semiautonomous or decentralized
agencies
extended the influence of the executive into most areas of
society,
they had gained substantial independence by the 1980s. The
larger
and more skilled staffs and international funding sources
of many
agencies, along with the inability of ministers to
supervise
closely the agencies under their purview, contributed to
this
independence.
In addition to administrative powers, the chief
executive had
considerable legislative authority. During normal times,
the
president may promulgate decrees with the force of law
called
decree-laws (decreto-leyes). Congress may also
delegate the
president authority to decree regulations in a particular
area or
on a pressing matter. For example, in 1964 the president,
at the
request of Congress, reorganized the courts and the
judicial
processes. Many of the president's legislative powers are
derived
from his constitutional authority to direct economic
policy, draw
up a budget, and submit economic development plans to
Congress.
After deciding on a policy initiative, the president
normally asks
a minister to prepare the specific legislative proposal.
The
legislature may reduce the president's proposed budget,
but it may
not add to it without the executive's consent. The
Constitution
also allows a president to declare certain matters
"urgent,"
thereby requiring priority congressional attention
(Article 91),
and permits the cabinet ministers to participate in
congressional
debates (Article 134).
The Constitution obliges the president, as commander in
chief
of the armed forces and the National Police, to maintain
law and
order, defend the nation, and deal with domestic
disturbances. The
president may declare war with the consent of the Senate
or, in the
event of invasion, without such consent. The president is
responsible for making peace, negotiating and ratifying
peace
treaties, and, also with the consent of Congress, making
treaties
with other nations.
Although the aforementioned Article 121 and Article 122
give
the president considerable powers to deal with internal
conflict or
war through a declaration of a state of siege or
emergency, the
judiciary limited their use in the late 1980s. Exasperated
by these
restraints, President Barco complained in an address to
the nation
in January 1988 that the Supreme Court had issued a series
of
rulings that had "virtually eliminated the practical side
of the
state of siege." He noted that the court had declared
unconstitutional at least ten state of siege decrees
issued by the
government. According to one ruling, the president may not
invoke
Article 122 without having specific and clear
authorization in the
laws, the Constitution, or people's rights. Another ruling
emphasized that the president may not use the state of
siege power
if the government's objectives can be obtained with the
existing
laws. Furthermore, the court insisted that the government
may not
use Article 121 to rule in socioeconomic matters if the
crisis can
be dealt with under Article 122.
Although presidential powers in Colombia greatly
exceeded those
of Congress or the judiciary, they were not without
political or
social restraints as well. Presidents needed to deal with
and
maintain the support of the nation's politically conscious
elites.
Lacking a single autonomous power base, such as a mass
party or
military control, the president had to be responsive to an
array of
competing economic, social, religious, and political
elites.
In the temporary or permanent absence or incapacity of
the
president, a presidential designate (primer
designado)
serves as acting president. The presidential designate,
appointed
every two years by Congress, receives no salary and has no
executive function but may hold other public or private
positions
while serving as designate. In case of the president's
resignation
or permanent incapacity, the acting president must call
new
elections within three months. Should Congress fail to
elect a
designate, the foreign minister becomes responsible for
acting as
president in case of the incapacity, absence, death, or
resignation
of the president.
After the president, cabinet ministers were the next
most
powerful individuals in the government in the late 1980s.
Each
minister directed a particular ministry and various
subordinate
decentralized agencies and institutes. Nevertheless,
Colombia's
tradition of allowing yearly reshuffles of the cabinet
hampered
governmental performance.
Certain ministries had more status or importance than
others,
although their relative standing was not clear cut. The
Ministry of
Government was perhaps the most powerful. The minister of
government exercised considerable authority over
elections,
consulted with the president on the selection of
departmental
governors, and acted as a liaison between the governors
and the
executive branch. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs probably
ranked
second in importance, not only because its head had a
central role
in conducting the nation's foreign relations but also
because the
incumbent was third in the line of succession to the
presidency.
Other important and powerful ministries were the
Ministry of
National Defense, the Ministry of Justice, and the
Ministry of
Finance. The minister of national defense directed the
armed forces
and National Police, which in addition to their other
duties were
charged with maintaining public order during a state of
siege. The
Ministry of Justice had risen in influence by the
mid-1980s as a
result of the increased importance in United
States-Colombian
relations of the prosecution and extradition of narcotics
traffickers
(see Relations with the United States
, this
ch.). The
Ministry of Finance has been consistently significant
because of
its responsibility for economic affairs. As economic
planning
became more important, this ministry's powers increased
proportionately.
Data as of December 1988
|