CNE: Suspension of certification is lifted on account of the committee promoting the recall of Daniel Quintero

On April 5, the National Electoral Council lifted the suspension of the certification procedure of the account of the committee promoting the recall against the mayor of Medellín, Daniel Quintero

In order 3211-21, the CNE also asked the National Fund for Political Financing and Electoral Campaigns to present its competence to the Plenary Chamber.

The spokesperson for the recall, Andrés Rodríguez, said on Blu Radio that they were notified of the suspension of the accounting statements and asked the magistrates to certify them “in democracy.”

The committee says that the accounting statements were presented in a transparent manner, so it hopes that the certifications can be approved and the mayor of Medellín removed: “It is already fair that the citizens of Medellin demonstrate themselves in democracy and evaluate the terrible management, there is still time to get the road back.”

Recently, 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 released on March 25, when it decided to settle about 40 guardianships for the process 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 Medellin ruled in favor of the guardianships brought by members of the recall committees, who said that implementation of the mechanism would be delayed. In the document, the entity had 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.

Despite the fact that half the time stipulated by the court had already passed, the CNE's defense lawyer, Yaneth Linares Vega, requested that, “revoke the judgment of first instance (...) and instead, the protection 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.

For his part, the mayor of Medellín has repeatedly repeated that there is evidence that the recall has been financed with public resources, which is illegal, therefore, it would be unsuccessful.

“I want to present a very serious piece of evidence, which would show that the recall was financed with public resources. I have documents that prove this,” said the mayor on February 17, and then he showed two documents that support his complaint.

Quintero noted that the recall accountant, identified as Sofía León Rojas, received 15 million pesos as payment for her fees with resources from the support unit of Councilor González Villa. The documents that the president shared with the media and which, according to him, would prove this irregularity, are the contract for the provision of services of the professional and the payment support.

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