Prosecutor Francisco Barbosa replied to Gustavo Petro: “It is regrettable that he intends to be president riding on institutions”

Senator and candidate for the presidency of Colombia for the Historic Pact coalition, Gustavo Petro, spoke about whether he would resign from the Senate in the coming days to dedicate himself fully to his campaign. He precisely answered this question from the 10th commune of Neiva, from where he held his first event 'Petro listens'.

According to the opposition leader, he will not submit his letter of resignation because he would lose the jurisdiction with which he would be tried by the Supreme Court of Justice and would be left at the mercy of the Attorney General's Office: “That is not a problem that is still in force because I don't want to be left in the hands of the Prosecutor's Office, it doesn't give me guarantees as proved before being congressman, which I am not because I wanted to but because of some law that was passed here that determined that the second in votes was a member of the Senate. When there are guarantees we talk,” Petro said.

Despite the fear he expressed in front of the prosecutor, it should be noted that his absence of debates and his lack of commitment to work as a senator would not go unnoticed, because if so he would have to submit to disciplinary actions by the Office of the Attorney General.

In response to the words of Senator of Human Colombia, the Attorney General of the Nation, Francisco Barbosa did not remain silent and pointed out that: “It is regrettable that Gustavo Petro intends to be president of the Republic, riding on the country's judicial institutions. The Attorney General's Office, its officials, the Colombian institutions, the Judicial Branch respect each other and are part of the rule of law.”

Barbosa ended his intercession from Panama, assuring that in a democratic system such as Colombia the norms must be respected and not unknown, especially if he is a public figure.

Rumors of Gustavo Petro's possible resignation from the Senate occurred a few days ago, when the president of the Colombian Congress, Juan Diego Gómez, reported that he had received information confirming that the opposition leader and presidential candidate for the Historical Pact would resign from his seat in the Senate of the Republic.

The Senator of the Conservative Party confirmed to the national media Semana that rumors of the resignation of the candidate for the presidency of Colombia, who leads the polls for intent to vote and is currently touring with his vice-presidential formula, environmentalist Francia Márquez, has reached his office for the four municipalities bordering the national territory.

“No, no office has arrived yet, they have announced to me that it will probably be presented in the next few days or weeks, but it has not yet arrived,” the parliamentarian told the media, clarifying that, if Gustavo Petro was still in Congress, he should comply with the regulations that established the mandatory nature of the attendance at the debates. Failure to comply with this requirement would lead to disciplinary action in the Office of the Attorney General.

It should be emphasized that these resignations have already been submitted by other senators who took office. In 2018, Iván Duque applied to withdraw from office on April 10 and run for the campaign that took him to the Nariño Palace. However, unlike Duque, Petro would not be replaced, as his seat in the Senate was handed over personally by the Opposition Statute, not in the name of a party.

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