Attorney General's Office clarified that the inability to aspire to peace seats is not permanent

The Office of the Attorney General of the Nation clarified this Thursday that the inability for a citizen to register as a candidate for one of the 16 Special Territorial Constituencies of Peace (CTEP) is not permanent, after he has aspired to public office with the endorsement of a political party, as determined by the National Registry of the Marital status.

This was explained by the Attorney General, Margarita Cabello, who indicated that in a concept sent to the Council of State, the Public Ministry indicated that the Registry, when transcribing the rule that adopted the peace seats provided for in Legislative Act 02 of 2021, article 5, and which was established in the Final Peace Agreement, made an amendment of the scope of the inability by indicating that it would apply at any time, “ignoring that the constitutional text restricts its scope to five years”.

“The Prosecutor specified in her opinion that it is clear that the derivative constituent ruled out establishing a timeless inability to aspire to the 16 seats of peace that was related to having been a candidate for a political party or movement, so that the regulation of the Registrar's Office ignores the spirit of the mentioned constitutional reform”, indicated the supervisory body in relation to this inability, which only lasts five years.

In this regard, he asked the Council of State to allow the nullity due to unconstitutionality requested by means of a lawsuit that analyzes and reiterates the expression “any time” of Resolution 10592 of 2021, with the purpose of clarifying that this inability will only have a period of five years as established by the standard.

On Thursday, 18 November, the Electoral Observation Mission unveiled the 16 Special Transitional Constituencies for Peace. It should be recalled that these were created with the Final Peace Agreement that was signed in 2016 to end more than 50 years of conflict between the extinct Farc-Ep and the State; and that it had great difficulties since they were initially sunk in Congress and then revived by the Constitutional Court.

The Special Transitional Peace Constituencies (CTEP) aim to increase political representation in the areas most affected by the armed conflict. Therefore, as pointed out by the Portal of Public Reason thanks to this figure, persons recognized by the Single Registry of Victims of 170 municipalities will be able to aspire to be representatives to the House for two electoral periods (2022-2026 and 2026—2030).

In order to fulfil the main objective of this point of the agreement, the EOM stated that these constituencies were located in:

C1. Nariño, Cauca and Valle: it will have 347 voting stations in 24 municipalities, C2. Arauca: will have 21 voting stations located in 4 municipalities, C3. Bajo Cauca: with 215 polling places in 13 municipalities, C4. Catatumbo: will be present in 4 municipalities with a total of 8 positions, C5. Caquetá: it will have 62 polling places in 17 municipalities, C6. Chocó: will be in 4 municipalities with 62 polling places, C7. South of Meta - Guaviare: will have 43 polling stations located in 12 municipalities, C8. Montes de María: with 131 polling places in 15 municipalities, C9. Pacifico-Valle-Cauca: it will have 133 polling places in 4 municipalities, C10. Pacífico Nariño: they will have 133 voting places located in 11 municipalities, C11. Putumayo: it will have 51 polling stations located in 8 municipalities, C12. Magdalena-Guajira-Cesar: will be in 13 municipalities with 110 polling places, C13. Southern Bolivar: with 61 polling places in 7 municipalities, C14. South of Córdoba: it will have 65 polling stations located in 5 municipalities, C15. South of Tolima: it will have 45 polling stations located in 4 municipalities; and finally, C16. Urabá: with 46 polling places in 8 municipalities.

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