A member of the Accusations Committee of Colombia’s Congress ordered the suspension of President Gustavo Petro, bypassing all steps that would give such a decision legal validity.
In a ruling, House Representative Gloria Arizabaleta ordered “the provisional suspension of Mr. Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego from his position as president” until June 21 at 4PM.
The ruling shocked colleagues, who said that individual members of the Accusations Committee can’t suspend presidents.
A suspension can only be ordered by the Senate based on the opinion of the House’s entire Accusations Committee.
In a phone call to the daily YouTube program of journalist Daniel Coronell, Arizabaleta reportedly denied filing the decree and said she was still deciding on what decision to take in regards to the president.
In an initial response, Petro accused the congresswoman of his Pacto Historico party of extortion.
“She has asked for things that I have refused to give, even though she is a member of my party; that’s not who I am. I want my ministers to testify under oath before the Court about what she was asking for, in order to convince Congress that we were being blackmailed,” said the president from New York City where he presided a Security Council meeting.
Former Housing Minister Luis Felipe Henao formally asked the Supreme Court to investigate the lawmaker.
According to Henao, “the order itself expressly acknowledges that the Constitution establishes a special procedure for the impeachment of the President of the Republic, which involves the House of Representatives and the Senate.”
Arizabaleta “decided to depart from that express constitutional rule and directly apply disciplinary legislation, unilaterally ordering the suspension of the head of state,” said Henao.
