The president of the Congress of the Republic, Roy Barreras, lost his seat in Congress due to double militancy. This was confirmed by the Council of State, which explained that the decision was made after finding that Barreras engaged in double militancy.
According to the agency, Barreras had to resign from his seat 12 months before the date on which the registrations for the congressional elections for the period 2022-2026 were carried out.
According to the document shared by the Council of State, “the Fifth Section analyzed the constitutional norms applicable to the matter and the precedents of the Corporation, and determined that with Legislative Acts 01 of 2003 and 2009, the constituent sought to strengthen the bench system and the discipline of the members of the parties, in addition, it was specified that the expulsion of the defendant from the ‘U’ Party, did not exempt him from his duty to resign from the seat, within the constitutionally established term.
On the decision of the Council of State, the still senator Roy Barreras assured that he will comply with the ruling, since justice is respected no matter how unfair they may seem. Also, he commented that he will continue to serve as president of the Senate until he is notified.
This was announced through a publication on his Twitter account, where he confirmed that he will file a guardianship that allows him to maintain his position, adding that the ruling of the Council of State will take it as an advance to his medical retirement.
“Killed in combat. The rulings of justice are respected even if they are unfair in my opinion. I will continue to fulfill my duty until notified. I will immediately file a guardianship to restore the rights of my constituents. They anticipated my medical retirement announced 6 months ago a few days. I’ll be back. Colombia will continue to count on me.”
The president of the Senate may continue in his position until the moment he is notified and the decision will not be final until the guardianship action that he announced is resolved.
Roy’s double militancy
The lawsuit that led the Council of State to make the decision was filed by the citizen observer Juan Carlos Calderón, who in July 2022 assured that Roy Barreras had incurred double militancy, for which reason he had to lose his seat.
According to Calderón, the double militancy was due to the fact that he was registered in 2021 as one of the senators for the Historical Pact, the government party, when he was still performing his duties as a senator for the U party.
For Carlos Calderón, what happened with Roy Barreras can be taken as a violation of article 2 of Law 1475 of 2011, which indicates: “candidates who are elected, always registered by a political party or movement, must belong to the one who registered them.” while they hold the investiture or position, and if they decide to run for a different political party or movement in the next election, they must resign from their seat at least 12 months before the first day of registration.”
According to said law, if the candidates who are elected by a political party or movement, are obliged to remain in the community that registered them while they are fulfilling the functions of their position, so if it happens that they appear for a different party, they must resign at least 12 months before the first day of registration.
“Double militancy and political turncoat have been described by constitutional jurisprudence as ‘modalities of democratic disloyalty’ because they disappoint the trust of voters who have voted not only for the candidate, but for the program and political platform of the party to which he belongs ”. with Infobae