Colombian Congressional President Armando Benedetti announced that arrested senator Javier Caceres can not be replaced by a party member and his seat must stay empty.
The senator’s seat must stay empty because of a recent law that prevents the seat of any representative under criminal investigation from being filled until the next election. If this “empty seat” principle is adopted in the case of Caceres, his seat will remain empty until the next election in 2014.
Caceres was arrested Tuesday