* Congress cannot repeat mistakes
* Political and institutional responsibility
“The cautious are rarely wrong.” That is one of the most providential proverbs of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. And the teaching that it contains applies like a glove to the process to choose the new Comptroller General of the Republic, a procedure that begins tomorrow, as announced by the outgoing boards of the Senate and Chamber.
As is known, weeks ago the Council of State annulled the election, in August of last year, of Carlos Hernán Rodríguez after finding that during the election process serious formal defects were incurred. The highest court of administrative litigation determined that in the process filed in Congress the provisions of articles 126 of the Constitution, 21 of Law 5 of 1992, as well as 6 and 9 of Law 1904 of 2018 were ignored by inasmuch as, among other aspects, a third list of eligible candidates was drawn up and the qualification parameters, initially set in the call, were varied without any justification.
At the time, these anomalous procedures were warned by different instances and candidates, but the political pulse in which the outgoing Congress and the incoming Congress were imbued in mid-2022 ended up leading to a troubled process of modifications that, although it culminated in the election of Rodríguez, several lawsuits were immediately filed that, finally, led to the annulment of all proceedings at the end of May.
It is paradoxical that it was the first time that this public call mechanism was applied, which was precisely created (under the aforementioned 2018 law) to make the selection of the Comptroller General more transparent and meritorious, reducing political interference. .
As recalled, before the choice of the head of the fiscal control entity was made by Congress in full from a shortlist that was made up of candidates from the Supreme Court of Justice, the Constitutional Court and the Council of State.
Now, the final election continues at the head of the plenary sessions of the Senate and the House. However, it is no longer done based on a short list, but first the boards of directors hold a public call in which all those who consider themselves qualified for the position can register. With the support of a top-level university, a process of reviewing the resumes is carried out, verification of the requirements to be a Comptroller, while examining that they are not involved in disabilities and incompatibilities. Once these phases are passed, those who continue in the process must take knowledge exams. Once all these stages have been completed, each of which has complaint instances, the results are definitively published.
After that, Parliament appoints an accidental commission that will choose 10 names from a list of 20 where the applicants with the best scores are. An interview with each of the interested parties is also taken into account. Finally, the plenaries listen separately to each of the 10 selected. And finally, a full session of Congress is called to make the choice.
As can be seen, each stage of this process is regulated and must be followed to the millimeter. The problem is that, as was said, in the transition of the outgoing and incoming Parliament a year ago, due to political and partisan motives, those rules were ignored and everything ended up being flawed.
Given this, it is the responsibility of the current boards of directors of the Senate and the Chamber (in charge of the Historical Pact) as well as those that will take office next July (headed by the Green Alliance and liberals) not to incur again in the same mistake. What happened last Tuesday, where the plenary session of the high legislative body approved a controversial proposal to postpone the start of the Comptroller’s election process until an appeal for protection filed by Rodríguez is resolved, already set off the first alarms. Although the now former head of the fiscal control entity has the right to file any legal appeals that he considers, the ruling of the Council of State is already final and enforceable, so delaying its effects can border on a prevarication by omission. The political scuffle that is beginning to emerge between the government and opposition awnings around the structuring of the process and the partisan origin of the finally chosen one is not convenient either.
The Comptroller General of the Republic exercises a main role in monitoring and guaranteeing the correct administration of public affairs and safeguarding the treasury. It is an anti-corruption bastion. After the first failure in the application of the 1904 law, it is obligatory for Congress to ensure that on this occasion there will be no errors of form or substance. We must proceed with the utmost caution and political and institutional responsibility.