BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s election authorities ruled Tuesday in favor of investigating allegations of financial misconduct against the 2022 campaign that elected President Gustavo Petro.
The investigation to be conducted by the National Electoral Council will focus on whether the campaign exceeded financing limits. The electoral body previously postponed decision-making on the investigation, which some, including Petro, view as politically motivated and illegal.
The outcome of the investigation could result in fines against some campaign staff, including the auditors, treasurer and manager. It cannot lead to an immediate impeachment of the president.
The council’s decision came after two of the 10 magistrates presented a report alleging that Petro’s presidential campaign exceeded financial limits by about $1.2 million. Petro has denied the allegations, which he says are a first attempt by his opponents to remove him from office.
Earlier this year, Petro characterized the investigation as a “Colombian-style coup.”
The council’s ten magistrates are elected by Congress and represent different political parties. At least two of them belong to Petro’s party.
The possibility of an investigation against the president sparked a political and legal debate over the council’s powers and presidential immunity.
In Colombia, only a committee of the House of Representatives can investigate the president. But the country’s Council of State ruled last month that the president’s immunity does not prevent him from being investigated by another government body, such as the National Electoral Council, which can only impose financial sanctions. The Council of State maintained that only Congress can impeach the president.
In the past thirty years, no president in Colombia has been removed from office during a political process in Congress.
Petro’s lawyer, Hector Carvajal, told a radio station last month that he had already filed an appeal with the Council of State to reconsider its decision and clarify that the president’s immunity is comprehensive, so he could not be investigated by election authorities . Carvajal warned that if electoral authorities opened the investigation, he would appeal to the Colombian Constitutional Court and also resort to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
