When the ministers' advisors began leaving the Senate, some senators let out an ironic giggle, like saying "this is too much". The opposition senators weren't laughing to celebrate a victory, even though it was their request to get the government officials out of the Senate. The cause of the giggles was that there were so many advisors in the hall, more than 15 of the so called "Congress Links", that there was a notable delay at the exit.
The task of these advisors was to guarantee the control of the Senators' votes in favor of the Referendum. Despite only needing 52 votes to approve it, they didn't want any surprises and were looking for more than 60 votes.
There's no doubt that the Government has already learned several lessons for this type of legislative procedures; this was one of them. It's better for the advisors to be in the hall instead of the Ministers. A scene of ten Ministers going seat by seat as it happened in December's Political Reform, could be appalling in terms of independence; both of the Congress in front of the executive and vice versa.
The advisors, with all sort of bureaucratic lists, can be as convincing as the Ministers themselves. "The government has sophisticated too much the job of the advisors who deal with bureaucratic positions", said an opponent Congressman, and added, "Every ministry is in charge of a group of senators and is responsible for them. For example, the Ministry of Social Protection deals with those of the seventh commission".
And even though Uribists say that they already had the sixty votes they needed, the steamroller actually started to work rather slowly at noon on Wednesday, when the plenary session was called. So slowly, that the opposition forced a first vote to test Uribism and only 50 voted in favor of changing the agenda in order to bring forward the referendum debate.
What can be called the 'Yidis syndrome' was also in between. After all what happened in the reform vote that allowed Alvaro Uribe's first reelection, which has had two Ministers and the Secretary- General to the President against the wall, they were not interested at all in the referendum being defined by a tight margin. They needed a resounding victory. Even more, in that same plenary session, former Governor of southern department of Huila Juan Cárdenas, despite the fact of being disqualified to hold public offices for 10 years, was appointed as new Senator, as he could be a determinant vote.
Those who didn't seem to be working as they were expected to, were the seven senators from Convergencia Ciudadana party, leaded by Samuel Arrieta, and three Conservative senators renowned for their bureaucratic appetite. These were 10 key votes, since without them the vote result would've been dangerously tight.
Before going into the Plenary Hall, Arrieta complained about the government before TV cameras with words that had a strong scent of bureaucratic demands: "Parties such as 'La U' and Conservatism have half the state offices in practice; they are like a bottomless pit. This accentuates the discrimination against minority parties which are essential in the moment of final decisions". And he concluded with a statement that seemed more like a coded message to the government than a spontaneous complaint: "The proof is here, in projects like the referendum or the [political] reform, which have been saved or sunk many times by these parties".
The ministries' advisors were seen in a rush making phone calls, while Minister Fabio Valencia walked seat by seat talking to each senator. Liberal senator Hector Helí Rojas had to ask the Senate President, conservative Hernán Andrade, to force Minister Valencia to go to his place. Later, his liberal colleague Juan Fernando Cristo demanded the advisors' departure from the hall.
It couldn't be seen on television or from the stands either, but according to one of the attending congressmen, "Minister Valencia met with all the senators of Convergencia in a corner, inside the hall".
Having the meeting happened or not, the truth is that something happened during the plenary session, because not only did all Convergencia voted 'Yes' for the referendum, but also on the way out, when faced with the questions of journalists, Senator Arrieta was clear to say that the government did make concessions: "Convergence never said that it didn't support the referendum. It said that there were a series of regional requirements that we have let the Minister know…they have committed to improve the treatment they give to the regions, which is what we have been claiming since the beginning". And he concluded saying: "It is clear that any situation here will be taken advantage of to claim more for the regions".
What catches the attention is that his words seem to be just the same as those said by Yidis Medina just after changing her vote five years ago.
Before 5 P.M. everything was already resolved. At 4:10, the Liberal Party and Polo Democrático left the hall. Some minutes later, 62 senators, 10 more than the minimum required, approved the referendum. Three more senators left or didn't attend: Marta Lucía Ramírez, of La U; Rodrigo Lara, of Cambio Radical, and Alexandra Moreno, of Mira. Five senators voted against: Ómar Yepes, conservative; Alfonso Valdivieso and Carlos Alvarado of Cambio Radical; Jorge Ballesteros, of Alas, and Luis Fernando Duque, of the Liberal Party. This shows that about twelve members of Cambio Radical departed from their boss's, German Vargas Lleras, directives.
Immediately, a round of applause and cheers broke the tension. Senators like Armando Benedetti, who lead the referendum approval, as well as Nancy Patricia Gutiérrez and Elsa Gladys Cifuentes, seemed especially excited.
To the question of the possible 'vote purchasing' from Convergencia, Minister Fabio Valencia answered: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. The best answer to that are the 62 votes in favor of the referendum".
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