What is the open town hall meeting, the new mechanism convened by the President after the collapse of the referendum?

A couple of hours after the collapse of the government's first referendum initiative in Congress, President Gustavo Petro, from China, called social organizations to the streets for an open town hall meeting, another mechanism for popular participation contemplated in the 1991 Constitution, but dating back to independence.

The town council is a public meeting. It can be held during each regular session of departmental assemblies, district and municipal councils, or Local Administrative Boards (LABs). It is open to the public, who may participate upon registration with the sponsoring committee, and discuss matters of interest.

Recently, jurisprudence defined it as "the meeting of the sovereign people to freely discuss matters that interest or affect them."

The mechanism expands the scope of political discussion and extends it to citizens, who can participate directly. According to Law 1757 of 2015, these initiatives are popular initiatives, and therefore will be convened by social organizations. The President addressed these organizations during his speech.

For political analyst and columnist for this newspaper, Gabriel Cifuentes, the open town hall meeting, while an existing concept, has no binding effect.

"It emerged in the first decades of our independence and is designed primarily for communities at the municipal level. Open town halls cannot exist at the national level, as they are designed to be attended by municipal councils or JALs," he explained.

He asserted that his call for action is related to the symbolism it represents: taking to the streets and filling the plaza, a constant in the president's political career.

"The open town council serves as a way to name what is, in essence, a practical action of citizen mobilization. However, I don't believe it can have legal effects. It's not the appropriate mechanism to revive a popular consultation. Its value is more symbolic than normative, given the historical importance that town councils had during the independence era," he added.

This period of history has been present in the president's speech. On May 1st, during the union march—which he used to call for mobilizations in support of the referendum—he drew Bolívar's sword and waved the "war to the death" flag, a symbol of independence.

"Open town hall meetings have enormous value in our colonial and republican history. They are effective spaces for defusing social tensions and connecting citizens with institutions and their representatives. Not only do they facilitate important citizen oversight tasks, but they can also give rise to initiatives that give rise to various regulatory and government instruments to resolve community problems," the analyst concluded. However, they are ineffective in reviving popular consultations.

During his speech, the President also asked the Senate to repeat the referendum vote, which was defeated by two votes in the plenary session.

Sara Valentina Quevedo Delgado