The blank vote defeated Gustavo Bolivar's aspiration to preside over the second vice presidency of the Senate

For the second time in this legislature, due to conclude on July 20, the re-elected Senator for the Historical Pact, Gustavo Bolivar, was defeated in his attempt to take control of the second vice-presidency of the Senate of the Republic.

The defeat of the legislator was the trigger for the legislator to declare that the charge did not matter to him since his intention, he said, is to set a precedent in terms of the opposition's rights to access managerial positions in Congress.

Bolívar sought to gain second vice presidency after a nullity ruling, issued by the Council of State, stopped the nomination of Iván Leonidas Name Vásquez (Green Alliance Party), who won the position from the representative of Humana Colombia on July 20, 2021.

For the senator, the ruling of the Council of State is clear when it indicates that blank votes are not valid for this type of internal elections in the corporation, so, he said, the scenario last night would be that of possible contempt of a judicial decision.

The legal record dates back to February 2022, when the high court, through its Fifth Section, found the election of Senator Iván Leonidas Name Vasquez illegal, as second vice president of the Senate of the Republic.

The Electoral Chamber of the Council of State indicated that the consequence of repeating the vote with candidates other than the initial ones only applies to elections to public corporations, as governor, mayor or in the first round of the presidential elections, but not to form the board of directors of the Senate of the Republic.

“With this procedure, it was determined that the Opposition Statute was not respected, because when the candidate ran there was no unanimity required for a member of the Green Party to gain access to that dignity again during this same four-year period,” the ruling noted.

Faced with this situation, Gustavo Bolívar pointed out that his defeat in Congress sets a precedent that will prevent the rights of the opposition from being “crushed by the majorities”, referring to the Democratic Center party:

He stressed that if he is not elected, he will go to the courts to assert his rights: “If it is insisted that the blank vote should be more valid than the election of the one appointed by minorities, then there we will file lawsuits or guardianship or contempt of the board of directors for not complying with the order of the Council of State.”

Due to Bolívar's pronouncements, the President of Congress, Juan Diego Gómez, assured that in the next session he will consider the issue of the election of office before the plenary in order to resolve as soon as possible the appointment of the new Second Vice-President of the Senate.

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