John Milton Rodríguez wins a pulse in the CNE and may be a presidential candidate

On February 15, the National Electoral Council (CNE) reported that the presidential candidacy of Christian Senator John Milton Rodríguez, of the Colombia Justa Libres Party, had been revoked after the party's president and Ricardo Arias, also an applicant for the guarantee, challenged his candidacy on the grounds that there were irregularities in his application.

But two months after that notification, the entity decided to revoke the measure taken. This Thursday, April 21, it issued a statement that begins as follows: “The Full Chamber of the National Electoral Council decided not to revoke the candidacy for president of the Republic of John Milton Rodríguez González, endorsed by the Colombia Justa Libres Party, for the elections to be held on May 29, 2022.”

With this news, Rodríguez is still in the race for the Presidency of the Republic and will be on the electoral card of the first round. With these words on his Twitter account he celebrated the decision of the CNE. “All glory to God. With humility and the responsibility of continuing to work in the defense of life, family and freedoms, we received with great gratitude the statement from @CNE_COLOMBIA confirming our candidacy. For Colombia #JohnMiltonPresidenteVA”.

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Regarding the decision taken in February, the entity said that at that time, with a presentation by Judge José Nelson Polanía Tamayo, the chamber resolved the petition in favor of Mr. Ricardo Arias Mora, Co-President of the Colombia Justa Libres party and Janio Carvajal.

Both noted that Rodriguez's election, at the National Party Convention on November 13, 2021, was marked by irregularities. “The National Electoral Council has accepted our challenge and rescinded all decisions taken on November 13, 2021 regarding the Colombia Justa Libres Party,” said Ricardo Arias upon learning of the first decision.

Finally, the CNE stated in its final decision that the Full Chamber considered that both the election and the issuance of the endorsement for the presidential aspiration of candidate Rodríguez González were granted by the legitimate authorities, in the relevant bodies and procedures: “The decisions adopted by the National Convention are of a binding nature as they are taken freely, spontaneously and effectively, within the framework of the internal procedures of the political party”: the CNE pointed out.

The candidate for the Colombia Justa Libres party, John Milton Rodríguez, was born in Cali on September 18, 1969. According to his official website, he is an Industrial Engineer from the Universidad Autónoma de Occidente and holds a diploma in finance, a master's degree in Public Management from the Universidad de los Andes and, according to his campaign, he has an honorary doctorate in Family Psychology from Amazing Grace University, USA.

SINCELEJO RECALL

In another decision, the National Electoral Council opened an investigation and filed charges against the committee promoting the mandate recall initiative called “Sincelejo Revokes Corruption” against the mayor of Sincelejo, Andrés Eduardo Gómez Martínez, for the apparent irregular presentation of the campaign's accounting statements of support, before the National Fund for Political Financing of the CNE.

The investigation is against Jhon Jairo Turizo Hernández, spokesperson for the initiative, José Javier González Mesa and Alex Manuel Sierra Paternina, members of the promoting committee. “The Full Room also decreed as an urgent precautionary measure the suspension of the issuance of certification of compliance with accounting and electoral standards for the collection of support for the promotion of the recall initiative,” concluded the CNE statement of April 21.

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