MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd May, 2021) Colombian President Ivan Duque has asked Congress to withdraw the draft tax reform and urgently discuss a new one amid nationwide protests, the presidency said.
"President @IvanDuque is asking Congress to withdraw the Sustainable Solidarity bill and process a new one that would be the result of consensus and which would help avoid financial uncertainty," a statement, released on the Colombian president's Twitter page on Sunday, says.
On Saturday, Duque ordered the country's military to monitor security in cities across the country where there was continued unrest amid public discontent over the new tax reform bill.
On Friday, Duque said that he had instructed the Finance Ministry to revise the draft tax reform amid nationwide protests.
Workers' strikes and public protests started in Colombia on Wednesday, with people walking out against the so-called Sustainable Solidarity Law, a tax reform bill presented earlier this month. Trade unions warned that the proposed reform would lead to at least 1.5 million workers having to pay new taxes.
More than 200 police officers have been injured amid the protests and over 180 people have been detained.
Duque said prior to the protests that the new tax initiative, which was expected to help raise around $6.8 billion (about 2 percent of Colombia's GDP), would significantly contribute to efforts aimed at alleviating the negative economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
