The Council of State annulled the election of Roy Barreras as senator of the Republic.
As argued by the high court, the president of Congress “incurred in double militancy, for breaching his duty to resign his seat 12 months before the date of registration for congressional elections for the period 2022-2026, to run for another community.”
Roy Barreras was a member of the U Party, from which he was expelled, and ran as a candidate for the Senate for the Historical Pact coalition, but according to the ruling of the Council of State, “the expulsion of the defendant from the U party did not exempted from their duty to resign from the seat, within the constitutionally established term.
Reaction
After learning of the ruling, Barreras announced that he will file a guardianship action.
“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,” said the senator.
“…what was involved is the expulsion from a party and once you are expelled from a party because you are not a member of it, it seems only logical that if you are not a member of a party and you are not in any of them, you have the right to aspire to choose and to be chosen, it seems obvious. It seems to me a controversial ruling to say the least, but my political opponents who are concerned citizens, who do not want us to exercise leadership, well they have had a small victory. I congratulate you, it will be small, it is just a small battle. I’ll be back,” Barreras said.
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