Iván Duque assured that the quota law was not violated with the appointment of Minister Diego Molano

Colombian President Iván Duque referred to the decision of the Administrative Court of Cundinamarca to annul the decree appointing Defense Minister Diego Molano. The Administrative Court of Cundinamarca annulled the decree appointing Diego Molano as Minister of Defense. The head of state assured that he will send a request for clarification on the ruling because, according to him, “there was no change to the Quota Act”. It was in February 2021 when I made that decision on Molano's position.

“We are going to ask for an explanation of the ruling because today there are seven women ministers, so as I always said, that is a process that is dynamic and in fact after the appointment of Minister Molano there were other appointments of women ministers,” said Iván Duque in defending the head of that government portfolio.

The Court holds that, according to the Quotas Act, the president did not comply with 30% female participation, however, Duque made a clarification. “There is no change in the Quota Act; on the contrary, we have that representation, that if you also include the presence of the vice-president who is Chancellor Marta Lucía Ramírez and who as vice-president is part of the Council of Ministers (...) That said, we have asked for a clarification, those clarifications are necessary and besides there is no interruption there or any administration of the Minister of Defense,” he added.

The Minister of Defense, Diego Molano, was not far behind and also expressed his opinion on the ruling handed down by the Administrative Court of Cundinamarca. “The decision that declares nullity in the first instance of the decree of my appointment as MinDefensa by the “Quota Act” in the government cabinet will be appealed,” said the official.

This ruling is the response to a lawsuit stating that President Iván Duque should appoint a woman as the head of the Ministry of Defense, taking into account the occupation of ministries by February 2021. “The current composition of the cabinet of ministers does not meet the minimum percentage of participation of women in their integration, so the administrative act of appointment requested is flawed (...) since their appointments did not guarantee that at least 30 per cent of ministries were headed by women, since only 27.7 per cent of the composition of the ministerial cabinet was occupied by women”, the document in which the request was made.

“The request for annulment of Decree 134 of 6 February 2021 shall be granted (...) and the President of the Republic shall be ordered to comply with the provisions of Law 581 of 2000 when making a new appointment, since he is obliged to appoint at least 30% of the positions at the highest decision-making level in ministries, women”, commented by the Tribunal in its final determination.

Currently, the ministerial cabinet that accompanies Iván Duque's administration is composed of eight women: Angelica Mayolo, Minister of Culture; Angela María Orozco, Minister of Transport; Carmen Ligia Valderrama, Minister of ICT; Susana Correa, Minister of Housing; María Victoria Angulo, Minister of Education; María Ximena Lombana, Minister of Commerce; and Marta Lucía Ramírez, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The official, despite the ruling, will remain in office, as I explain on his Twitter account, and he will be there until the Council of State evaluates the ruling and determines whether, in effect, the appointment is null and void. “I am still in office, today in San Andrés working for the safety of Colombians,” he said on his social networks.

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