Colombia’s former Prosecutor General on Tuesday sent an open letter to Congress, calling for the resignation of the country’s Inspector General after his controversial decision to dismiss the mayor of Bogota.
In the letter, former Prosecutor General Viviane Morales said a “request of retirement” of Inspector General Alejandro Ordoñez must be “carried before the Senate.”
Morales — who has been removed from office herself after a high court her election had been illegitimate — called for replacement of the inspector with another candidate “who lacks suspected ideological bias.”
“The situation created by the decision of the Inspector General and the response of thousands of citizens that have rejected it, sets up a tension between respect for the institution and the sacred obligation to listen to the people,” said Morales.
Earlier this week, Ordoñez created an uproar on the left after dismissing and banning from office for 15 years Mayor Gustavo Petro of Bogota over a scandal that left thousands of tons of trash on the streets during an attempted transfer to a public collection service.
MORE: Colombia’s Inspector General dismisses Bogota mayor over trash collecting scandal
Since that point, thousands have taken to the streets in protest of the decision and in support of Petro, who is a leader for Colombia’s left and a former member of urban guerrilla group M-19.
MORE: ‘This is Colombia’s Tahir square’: Dumped Bogota mayor calls for ‘peaceful revolution’
The dismissal also drew the attention of the United Nations’ whose High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia told press that Ordoñez “is acting according to his mandate, but must also respect human rights.”
The UN said it had requested a meeting with the Inspector General to review possible conflicts with democratic rights of those who voted for Petro and international jurisprudence.
MORE: UN Wants To Meet Colombia’s Inspector General Over Dismissal Bogota Mayor