They remind Petro when he criticized Duque for not going to presidential debates: “They are the basis of democracy”

The controversy continues over the announcement by the presidential candidate, Gustavo Petro, that he will not participate in electoral debates “until the transparency of the vote is guaranteed”. Now, several political leaders, as well as their contradictors, remind him that he used to think differently.

It all goes back to the first quarter of 2018, four years ago, when the leader of the Historical Pact was vying for the presidency with today's head of state, Iván Duque, who refused to debate with Petro before the second presidential round.

At that time, the progressive candidate made very harsh comments against the then bishop of the Democratic Center and even assured that Duque did not debate with him because he was “afraid” of Petro.

Moreover, it was not the only pronouncement that was brought to Petro's attention. In another of his trills he also questioned Duque and, emphatically, invited him to the debates:

“Citizens have the right to know their candidates for the Presidency in debate. DEBATE is the basis of Democracy I invite Iván Duque to hold the presidential debates in the second round,” said the leader of Human Colombia.

That last publication was brought to light by Senator Angelica Lozano, from Alianza Verde, who sent a question to the presidential candidate. “According to Gustavo Petro: 'Citizens have the right to know their candidates for the presidency in debate' Why take that right away from citizenship?” , said the wife of the mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López.

Criticism from Internet users, and politicians like Lozano, is due to the scandal Colombia faces over the results of the legislative elections, which caused Gustavo Petro to decide not to go and confront his opponents at the polls in electoral forums and debates.

“I suspend my presence in electoral debates until the transparency of the vote is guaranteed,” Petro wrote on his Twitter account.

In fact, that decision caused the other candidates to take it against him and also question him. “Gustavo: this is precisely the time when we have to debate. We are at a critical point for Colombia and now, more than ever, we need to demand guarantees and transparency in the electoral process,” said Centro Esperanza candidate Sergio Fajardo.

Another one that went further was the candidate of the Team for Colombia, Federico 'Fico' Gutiérrez, who not only questioned him, but also took a photo of Petro during the debate that was broadcast this Monday, March 21 on the RCN channel. “As we are used to not seeing him in the debates, I brought them to you: I present to you Gustavo Petro. This man is responsible - for the crisis - and many of those who dedicated themselves to blocking the roads at the time of the strike,” Gutiérrez said.

The debate continued and Gutiérrez continued with his speech “(...) and people wonder why eggs and chicken are expensive; do you know by whom? Because of this man,” he said while pointing to the photo of his electoral rival.

As expected, this fact did not go unnoticed on social networks, and on Twitter many questioned this gesture. The memes did not take long to arrive and several spoke of an “obsession” of 'Fico' with the former mayor of Bogotá.

This scenario has caused reactions, in which citizens have demanded Petro's presence in these spaces. In fact, during the debates of the regions and that of RCN this Monday, dozens of internet users dared to say that “debate without Gustavo Petro, it was not debate”. In addition, despite the fact that the Historic Pact candidate did not participate, he was the target of attacks.

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