The National Electoral Council (CNE) announced today the decision to revoke the candidacy of Rodolfo Hernández, former mayor of Bucaramanga and former presidential candidate, for the Governorate of Santander.
This resolution is based on the three disciplinary sanctions imposed by the Attorney General’s Office General of the Nation in the last five years against Hernández.
The determination of CNE was taken by the Plenary Chamber with a vote of 6 votes in favor and 4 against. The legal basis for this decision is found in the article 42 of the 1952 Law of 2019, which establishes that a person cannot be a candidate in regional elections if they have received three or more disciplinary sanctions in the last five years.
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The news has generated reactions in the political sphere, and President Gustavo Petro spoke out on the matter. He expressed his disagreement with the situation and mentioned that he considers that the thesis of removing political rights through administrative sanctions is being used, disobeying the ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), which establishes the obligation to comply. Petro affirmed that the population should have the freedom to decide who their local leaders will be and that in many regions the administrative decisions of the CNE are modifying the popular will.
“I must express my disagreement with what is happening there. CNE. With the case of Rodolfo Hernández, my rival in the presidential race, the thesis of removing political rights through administrative sanctions in open contempt of the IACHR ruling, which is mandatory, has been revived. It is the population that must freely decide their local leaders. In many regions, administrative decisions of the CNE are changing the decisions of the people,” were the specific words of President Petro.
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