President
The President of Colombia (Presidente de la República de Colombia) is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Colombia. The office of president was established upon the ratification of the Constitution of 1819, by the Congress of Angostura, convened in December 1819, when Colombia was part of “la Gran Colombia”. The first president, General Simón Bolívar, took office in 1819. His position, initially self-proclaimed, was subsequently ratified by Congress.
The current president of the Republic of Colombia is Juan Manuel Santos.
According to the Colombian Constitution of 1991, Article 188: The President of Colombia is the head of state, head of government and Supreme Administrative Authority. The President of Colombia symbolizes the National Unity and after taking an oath to the Constitution of Colombia and swearing to defend and protect the nation’s laws, he is charged to guarantee and protect the Rights and Liberties of all the Colombian nationals.
The Administrative Department of the Presidency of Colombia has the commission to assist or support the President of Colombia on its constitutional mandated functions and legal issues.
Colombian Constitution of 1991 Article 115: States that the National Government is formed by the President of Colombia, the Vice President of Colombia, the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Colombia and the Directors of the Administrative Departments of Colombia. Any official from these entities constitute the Government of Colombia in any particular business.
Any act by the President of Colombia, in order to be legal and enforceable, must be sanctioned by any of the ministries or department directors, who will also be held responsible for the act. The only exception is if the President appoints or removes minister, administrative departments’ directors and any other officials appointed by him under his administrative authority.
Governors of the Departments of Colombia, Mayors of Municipalities of Colombia, as well as regional Superintendents of Colombia, public establishments and industrial and commercial state owned enterprises, are all part of the Executive branch of Colombia.
The Colombian Constitution of 1991, coupled with several articles of amendment, establishes the requirements an eligible candidate must meet in order to become president, as well as the term of office, method of election, and powers.
The Colombian Constitution of 1991 Article 191: states that the president must be a natural born citizen of Colombia and at least 30 years of age.
The president and vice president serve a term of office of four years after being elected by popular vote. Reelection in Colombia was not allowed until November 24, 2005 when the Colombian Congress approved it by introducing the Electoral Guarantees Law (Ley de Garantias Electorales) which modified Article 152, of the Colombian Constitution of 1991.
The President or Vice President desiring a reelection must officially postulate its candidacy in the National Electoral Council and guarantee a fair competition for the other contenders, because of this, participation of acting officials in political proselytism was standardized.
If the president or vice president are not running for office they are prohibited from participating on political proselytism. If one or both are participating, he/she is authorized to participate in these activities four months prior to the primary elections. Also, if the president and/or vice president are running for office they will also be authorized to participate in their political party’s selection mechanism to postulate candidates.
In 2010, the Constitutional Court of Colombia threw out a planned referendum to allow presidents to run for three consecutive terms. It ruled that Colombian presidents cannot serve three terms, even if they are nonconsecutive.
Council of Ministers
The Council of Ministers of the Republic of Colombia is part of the executive power, and according to the presidential orientation of the Colombian Constitution of 1991, it is a cabinet of advisors to the President of Colombia.
During the first administration of President Álvaro Uribe, Congress and the President passed Law 790 of 2002, which modified the existing ministries by merging and reducing their number to 13. In accordance with Article 7, the Ministries in order and precedence were then thus:
- Ministry of the Interior and Justice
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Ministry of Finance and Public Credit
- Ministry of National Defense
- Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
- Ministry of Social Protection
- Ministry of Mines and Energy
- Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism
- Ministry of National Education
- Ministry of the Environment, Housing and Regional Development
- Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications
- Ministry of Transport
- Ministry of Culture
Vice President
The Vice President of Colombia is the first in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of Colombia upon leaves of absence or death, resignation, or removal of the President, as designated by the Colombian Constitution of 1991 which also reinstated the vice president figure after almost a century of being abolished during the presidency of Rafael Nuñez.
The Vice President can not assume Presidential functions on temporary absences of the President such as official trips abroad or vacations. In these cases, the President delegates functions to a cabinet member, usually the Minister of the Interior. The current Vice President of Colombia is Angelino Garzon.
The vice president must be a natural-born citizen of Colombia, at least 30 years of age. The Colombian Constitution of 1991 requires the vice president to meet the same eligibility requirements as the president that can be re-elected. It is also eligible for an unlimited number of terms as vice president.
The Vice President has the same period of functions that the President of Colombia and will replace him in case of temporary or complete absences. The Vice President can also be authorized by the President especial missions (like to represent him on international diplomatic visits) or designate him in any position of the Colombian Executive branch of Power. Every President has defined the Vice Presidents functions within their government.
According to the Decree 2719 of December 17, 2000 in the Colombian Constitution of 1991 which modified the structure of the Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic, the functions of the Vice President are:
- To execute special missions set by the President of Colombia and in accordance with the Colombian Constitution.
- Advise the President on the execution of policies and politics regarding Human Rights and Corruption.
- Collaborate with the Colombian government’s management of internation and national activities regarding Human Rights and corruption.
- Plan mechanisms to harmonize agreements between the different levels of the executive government in Colombia on issues regarding Human Rights and corruption.
- Represent Colombia internationally as ordered by the President.
- By determination fo the President, the Vice President will support and advice the President on other issues.
- Other functions will be addressed according to the needs of the President.