CNE magistrate requested proof of funding for Gustavo Petro's campaign

Gustavo Petro has the largest budget reported for the election campaign and is the one that has invested the most, so far, in the race for the Presidency of the Republic. This is why the National Electoral Council (CNE) would have initiated a verification of the accounts of the Historical Pact to establish whether it meets the established ceilings.

According to RCN News, CNE magistrate Pedro Felipe Robledo ordered the collection of evidence and documents from Petro's campaign accounts for alleged violation of electoral ceilings in the investment of resources.

Among all the candidates for the presidential consultations, the most costly campaign was that of Petro. The leader and elected candidate of the Historical Pact reported expenditures of 4,056,117,737, of which nearly 3.7 billion were spent on transportation and electoral propaganda and 213 million on public events.

According to his accountant, the senator applied for a loan from Confiar Cooperativa Financiera for $6,972,000,000, which is the only campaign income he has reported so far.

However, the candidate has until April 13 to complete the campaign income and expenditure report and only until that date could an investigation be initiated if inconsistencies are found in the reported data.

According to the CNE, the maximum expenditure to be invested in the election campaign by candidates for the Presidency of the Republic during 2022 will be $27,453,094,557 for the first round. For the presidential runoff, if any, the ceiling will be $12,840,703,931.

The violation of the ceiling would occur when this amount is exceeded, from whatever source the candidate has received for funding, both from the resources provided by the State and those provided by individuals.

In the case of the expenditure limit for the campaigns of the interparty consultations, which Petro is currently being questioned in the CNE, it was set in full room at a value equivalent to fifty percent (50%).

According to Doris Ruth Méndez Cubillos, president of the CNE, this percentage “must be spent jointly for campaigns carried out by all the candidates of the respective political party or movement or significant group of citizens, distributed equally among each of the pre-candidates, registered to participate in the consultation to be held on November 7, 2021 and March 13, 2022″.

Violation of electoral funding ceilings is one of the offences, provided for in Law 1864 of 2017, which stipulates that whoever manages the resources of the electoral campaign that exceeds the limits or spending limits established by the electoral authority, shall be imprisoned for four (4) to eight (8) years, a corresponding fine at the same value as exceeded and disqualification from exercising public rights and functions at the same time.

Complaints about the funding of Gustavo Petro's campaign began in 2021 when the candidate began his public events in Barranquilla. This massive event aroused the disagreement of Representative Edward Rodríguez of the Democratic Center, who lodged the complaint with the CNE to investigate the financing, as well as the source of resources.

However, it will be the CNE that will carry out the corresponding investigation and determine whether the money invested exceeded the limit or not. It should be remembered that the money invested is recovered by the number of valid votes won by each candidate or corporation.

It is worth mentioning that due to Petro's presidential campaign in 2018, the CNE also opened an investigation against him for allegedly receiving money from the Nicolás Maduro regime. On that campaign, the Supreme Court of Justice has now quoted the 'Pollo' Carvajal, a former Venezuelan military commander who in Spain mentioned the senator in his last campaign.

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