Representatives of the Liberal Party have called for Inspector General’s Office to lose its power to discipline members of Congress.
Liberal spokesperson Jesus Ignacio Garcia was quoted in La Semana saying the office was “overreaching” itself when it removed or suspended members of Congress, adding, “there is a judicial vacuum that gives these types of powers to the Inspector General.”
Instead, the Liberals want to see the justice reform bill currently going through Congress to hand over responsibility for sanctioning members of Congress to the State Council, Colombia’s highest administrative court.
Garcia denied the move was politically motivated – the only two politicians to have been sanctioned by the current Inspector General, Alejandro Ordoñez, have been the Liberal politicians Piedad Cordoba and Amparo Arbelaez.