CNE challenged guardianship that gave it a period of 10 days to certify the recall of Mayor Daniel Quintero

This Thursday, the National Electoral Council (CNE) challenged the guardianship ruling issued by the Medellín Superior Court that ordered it to certify or not the recall process of Mayor Daniel Quintero within 10 days.

The Court's decision was made on March 25, when it decided to resolve about 40 guardianships for the trial against Quintero. The resources assured that for more than a month, the process to remove Daniel Quintero from his position as mayor has been stalled because the CNE has not issued a certification of the accounting statements of the recall initiative.

For this reason, the High Court of Medellín ruled in favor of the guardianships brought by members of the recall committees, who assured that the implementation of the mechanism would be delayed. In the document, the entity established a deadline of 10 days, which is next April 7, for the CNE to issue certification of the accounting statements of the recall initiative.

The reason for the CNE's challenge

Despite the fact that half the time stipulated by the court had already passed, the CNE's defense lawyer, Yaneth Linares Vega, requested that “the judgment of first instance be revoked (...) and instead, that the guardianship be declared inappropriate for the non-violation of some fundamental rights”.

The newspaper El Colombiano was informed of the text challenging the CNE's defense. There, it is alleged that the entity has not incurred “an unjustified delay” in the proceedings, and therefore considers that the rights of the guardians have not been violated.

“In order not to incur irregularities that generate violations of the fundamental rights of the parties in custody and due to the complexity of the matter, we must act with caution and in accordance with the regulations governing the matter,” Linares said in the document.

In context: Daniel Quintero's revocation: the CNE ordered to certify the financial statements in 10 days

On the appeal filed by the CNE, one of the leaders of the recall, Andrés Rodríguez, ruled on the matter. “Incredibly, the CNE challenged the judgment of the High Court of Medellin. This does not affect in any way the 10-day deadline for certifying the financial statements, which ends on April 7,” the spokesperson explained on his social networks.

The member of one of the recall committees again emphasized his peace of mind with regard to the accounting statements because, “all this documentation was delivered perfectly”. Rodríguez also indicated that they are attentive to the decision taken by the CNE and are determined to “reach the last resort,” explained the leader. An accounting of 200 million pesos should not take more than four months.”

It should be recalled that the concept issued by the Council would determine whether the promoters of the process exceeded the expenditure ceilings or complied with the provisions of the law. In the event that the CNE does not issue the certification as ordered by the court, the case shall be referred to the Constitutional Court.

On the other hand, the guardianship presented by the committees was also brought against the Registrar's Office, because they considered that the entity would also be delaying the recall process; however, the court dismissed this in the judgment.

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