* Lessons from a flawed process
* Ensure maximum transparency and oversight
The decision of the Council of State to declare the nullity of the election of Carlos Hernán Rodríguez as comptroller general of the Republic, in mid-August last year by the full Congress, leaves a series of lessons learned.
In the first place, according to the ruling of the Fifth Section of the highest court for administrative litigation, it is clear that, as we have warned so many times in these pages, in the decisions of the Legislature, both the form and the substance matter. The ruling is forceful in that the selection process of the head of the fiscal control entity was marked by many irregularities, especially with regard to strict compliance with what is mandated in articles 126 of the Political Constitution, 21 of Law 5 of 1992, as well as 6 and 9 of Law 1904 of 2018.
The latter, precisely, is the one indicated by the new selection mechanism for senior officials, which was changed, paradoxically, under the thesis of reducing political interference in this election and giving priority to technical aspects, expertise and objective selection. Given what happened the first time this new procedure was applied, it could be concluded that more specific regulations are necessary so that the boards of the Senate and House, by action or omission, do not end up vitiating such a delicate matter.
It would be naive to ignore that once last year’s parliamentary and presidential elections passed, there was a clear political struggle between the outgoing congressional leaders and the leaders of the incoming parliamentary coalition regarding how the process for selecting the comptroller general was going. That scuffle, in which one and the other crossed signals of wanting to direct the choice with motivations not holy, was the one that finally led the presidents of the Senate and Chamber who took office on July 20, claiming to have court rulings that ordered it, modified the rules of the game and this led to redoing the list of eligible candidates. Even blunders of legislative technique were committed in the same session where the election was held.
All this chain of anomalous circumstances was noticed at the time by parliamentarians from different parties, but deaf ears were paid to the bells due to the gross errors that were incurred… Thus, last week’s ruling of the Council of State in In no way can it be considered surprising. On the contrary, it only came to confirm the early warnings that were, it is reiterated, stubbornly and irresponsibly neglected.
Now, although the comptroller Rodríguez announced legal resources, the truth is that, with the ruling being final, Congress must proceed to start a new process to select the head of the fiscal control entity. Hopefully on this occasion the boards of directors, both of the outgoing legislature (which ends on June 20), and the incoming legislature (which begins on July 20), strictly apply what is indicated by the constitutional and legal mandates.
As much as the political map of the benches has changed, especially since the early breakup of the government coalition, this is a circumstance that should only weigh when the final list of eligible candidates is configured. Before that, the whole process has to be absolutely objective and transparent.
Law 1904 is exhaustive: an absolutely regulated public call to comply with the principles of publicity, transparency, citizen participation, gender equality and criteria of merit for their selection. A process of analysis of resumes, application of tests and interviews in charge of a first level university. And the preparation of a list of ten eligible selected by a parliamentary commission, after which the plenary will proceed to the respective selection. It would even be advisable for the Attorney General’s Office and citizen oversight organizations to be summoned to monitor the entire procedure. Given what happened, it is clear that no precaution or filter is superfluous.
As was said at the beginning: it is imperative to draw lessons from this traumatic case that, without a doubt, harms state institutions and, in particular, the supervisory activity of the Comptroller’s Office, crucial at a time when corruption, politicking, drug cartels Contracting and administrative disheveledness in the management of the public continue to be the daily bread in the official instances of the national, regional and local order. Last time, the outgoing and incoming congresses assured that the process was armored, but in light of the facts, the failure was not only very serious, but should lead to the identification of responsibilities and sanctions.