Colombian opposition party Polo Democratico anounced its intention to expel three senators Monday for demonstrating an “affinity with the Progressive Movement” of Bogota’s Mayor-elect, Gustavo Petro.
The president of the leftist party, Jaime Dussan Calderon, said that the party’s move to remove the senators was a “political decision” as the committee no longer considered them to have the same ideals as the party.
“It is simply a political case, taking into account that they are not at home with the Polo… and did not want to commit to the party,” said Dussan.
The president said that the Polo Democratico would use legal resources to ensure that the “expelled” Senators Jorge Guevara, Camilo Romero and Luis Carlos Avellaneda could not continue as lawmakers.
The Polo Democratico hopes to be able to fill the empty Senate seats with other members of the party.
If the expulsion proposal were to progress, and the Polo Democratico were to keep its seats, it would enter Dussan, along with ex-senator and elected Bogota councilor Venus Albeiuro Silva, and Carlos Romero, the husband of Bogota’s interim Mayor Clara Lopez, as replacements.
Gustavo Petro was the Polo Democratico’s presidential candidate in 2010, but finished a distant fourth in the race. Soon after, he broke away from the party and formed his own “Progressive Movement,: of which the three Polo Democratico senators are considered to be sympathetic.