The president of the House of Representatives’ Investigation and Accusation Commission, Gloria Arizabaleta, ordered the “provisional suspension” of Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday while she investigates him for his alleged involvement in the election campaign. The congresswoman, a member of the Historical Pact, the same party as Petro, ordered the president to be “provisionally suspended from office” until June 21 at 4:00 p.m. local time (9:00 p.m. GMT), when the polls close for the second round of the presidential elections. Arizabaleta pictured below, argued her decision by stating that she can order the provisional suspension of the president “provided that there is serious evidence that establishes that remaining in the position, function or public service allows the author of the fault to interfere in the investigation process.”
If this measure, unprecedented in the country, were to materialize, Petro, who is visiting New York, where he is speaking today at the UN Security Council, would be the first president of Colombia to be suspended from office, a power that only the Senate has and not the House’s Investigation and Accusation Committee. Petro has been denounced several times for alleged participation in politics during the campaign for the elections in which his successor will be chosen in the second round on June 21, and on May 26 the Investigation and Accusation Commission of the Chamber opened an investigation against him.
Arizabaleta stated that she decided to suspend the president because political intervention is classified as “a very serious offense” and “because of the hierarchy of the person subject to disciplinary action and the significance of the alleged offense.” The representative also warned that there is no appeal against the decision. The second round will be contested on June 21 between the far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella, from the Defenders of the Homeland movement, who on May 31 was the most voted in the first round, with 10.3 million votes (43.78%), and Senator Iván Cepeda, from the Historical Pact, who obtained 9.7 million (40.98%).
Colombian President Gustavo Petro denounced on Wednesday that, in his opinion, Colombian law was violated when his suspension was ordered, arguing that the Accusation Commission “is not the one that suspends” a president and pointed out that this implies “a process in the Supreme Court of Justice”. “In my opinion, Colombian law has been violated and that implies a process in the Supreme Court of Justice,” Petro declared at the doors of the UN Security Council, where he learned of his suspension.
The president of the Investigation and Accusation Commission of the House of Representatives of Colombia, Gloria Arizabaleta, ordered this Wednesday the “provisional suspension” of Petro as president, while he is investigated for his alleged participation in the electoral campaign. The order extends until June 21 at 4:00 p.m. local time (9:00 p.m. GMT), when the polls close for the second round of the presidential elections in Colombia.
According to the president, this decision is nothing more than “a claim that the entire process would have to fulfill.” The Colombian head of state raised doubts about the commission’s authority to suspend him and asserted that it was an operation to “extort the government.” Furthermore, Petro suggested that Arizabaleta’s lawyer, Hollman Ibáñez, had been linked to the far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella.
The president asserted at all times that he has not made “political interventions” and defended that the suspension is due to “having a different opinion”. He said that being president does not mean he loses “fundamental rights,” which is understood as an allusion to his right to comment on the elections. If the measure ordered by Arizabaleta, a member of the Historical Pact, the same party as Petro, is implemented, he would be the first president of Colombia to be suspended from office, although the final decision will depend on the Senate, the only body that has the power to do so.
