National Electoral Council could overthrow the recall of the mayor of Medellín

Yesterday the National Electoral Council, CNE, held an extraordinary meeting where the future of the process would be defined, which seeks the recall of Daniel Quintero, a procedure that every week has a new 'obstacle' or progress. The truth is that the body assessed whether the accounts of the committees that seek to remove mayors were certified of Medellin and Sincelejo.

In the case of the Antioquian official, the magistrate in charge of the case, César Augusto Abreo, would be considering formulating 3 charges to the committee led by Andrés Rodríguez, because, according to the CNE, they incurred a series of irregularities which would indicate that the budget ceilings had been exceeded established by law; non-payment to campaign officials, both the accountant and the auditor, and the non-justification of expenses, some presented as donations.

This recall committee had already complained that Judge Abreo and the National Electoral Council had violated their rights by the Registrar's Office and the robbery's failure to issue certificates, in addition, they allege that they did not allow them access to other judicial work.

It should be recalled that at the beginning of the month, Mayor Daniel Quintero denounced that there was a 'triangulation of resources', so he asked the authorities to reveal who the donors of the committee are, which according to the president, there could be “criminals and drug traffickers” who would verify the irregularities that the official points out.

According to what was stated in the full chamber of the National Electoral Council, the recall committee exceeded 236 million pesos, thus exceeding the ceilings established by law, which the members of the committee who submitted the proper support assure, but for Judge Abreo, they would be a matter of investigation. This is in addition to the non-payment of the fees of the accountant and the auditor, which, although since the recall campaign, indicate the fulfillment of the contracts, which were established by the stages of the process, the CNE will determine whether the dates of such agreements would have ended after the accounting reports were sent to this body.

In fact, the National Electoral Council should have already issued a ruling in favor or against the accounting statements of the recall, which was pressured by a guardianship sanctioned by the High Court of Medellín that called for the speeding up of this process. From the pronouncement, it would be known whether to continue with a democratic stage, which would allow citizens to decide whether Daniel Quintero is still in office or not.

Although Andrés Rodríguez, leader of the committee, who assured weeks ago that the recall process has been transparent, and that it is supported by the collected signatures which were validated and approved by the National Registry Office, now his collective does not share the same idea. On the Twitter account of the Recall Daniel Quintero, they recently pointed out.

this is because as far as the origin of Judge César Abreo is known, he is a member of the Liberal Party.

Such charges would define today whether the recall process against Daniel Quintero will continue or not, depending on whether the National Electoral Council and its 9 judges in the full chamber decide for or against the presentation. It would take 6 votes to determine the future of the recall.

It should be noted that in the recall proceedings against Andrés Gómez Martínez, mayor of Sincelejo, a charge was also made for not reporting the expenses in the process of collecting signatures, although they supported the concepts of expenditure for advertising; today, too, the status of the official of the capital of Sucre would be defined.

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