Former presidents of Colombia could not participate in politics again, as proposed by senators of the Green Alliance

In a post on Senator Antonio Sanguino's Twitter profile, he said: “We have agreed with my friend and colleague, Iván Marulanda, to present a Bill that prohibits former presidents from participating in politics and presiding over political parties,” this occurs at the same time as the last session begins, after the recess legislative, which will end on June 16, when the congressmen elected on March 13 will take office.

Although there are no further details of the proposal, it is clearly an indication to the former leaders who have been part of the ongoing electoral contest, the case of Ernesto Samper who is still politically active; César Gaviria, current president of the Liberal Party, these two who have discussed publicly, recently why Samper told Gaviria that not only does he represent liberalism in Colombia.

Andrés Pastrana is another of the former presidents who, despite not holding any office, maintains activism, for example, is one of the most frequent characters used by the Conservative Party, also, filed an interdisciplinary complaint against registrar Alexander Vega, about what happened in the last elections.

In addition, Álvaro Uribe with whom the two senators of the Green Alliance have been very critical, which led them to have public discussions during the plenary sessions, among them. This happened, when the former president was a senator, a position he held until August 2020, when he was preemptively detained while being tried by the Supreme Court of Justice.

If the bill is submitted, it must be approved before the end of the legislative term, since neither Antonio Sanguino nor Iván Marulanda were re-elected in the last votes and there is no pronouncement by any sector or senator who wants to continue with the proposal.

Marulanda, who won 7,757 votes and Sanguino 17,764, complained about the alleged irregularities that occurred during the count, as they assured that the results had stagnated by a certain percentage.

Ivan Marulanda asked the Esperanza Center Coalition for help in carrying out the recount: “I cannot remain silent in the face of this absurd and unjust situation. Electoral fraud threatens democracy, the legitimacy of institutions and the peace of Colombia,” a claim to which Antonio Sanguino joined.

These proposals have had precedents such as the non-presidential re-election instituted in the last term of Juan Manuel Santos, that mayors could not be re-elected for the next term and other bills they set, that both senators and representatives of the House cannot repeat their seats in congress.

This issue is also very popular in recent days due to the alleged participation in politics of several public officials, among the most notorious cases are the secretaries of the Mayor's Office of Medellín who resigned to join the campaign of the Historical Pact, a movement that promotes the presidential candidacy of Gustavo Petro.

The provisions of article 127 of the constitution must be taken into account: “Employees of the State and its decentralized entities who exercise jurisdiction, civil or political authority, administrative management positions, or serve in judicial, electoral or supervisory bodies are prohibited from taking part in activities of parties and movements and in political disputes, without prejudice to the free exercise of the right to vote.

Employees not covered by this prohibition may participate in such activities and disputes under the conditions established by law.

The use of employment to pressure citizens to support a political cause or campaign constitutes grounds for misconduct. ”

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