Members of Colombia’s Polo Democratico party have brought official complaints against the president in front of the House of Representatives’ Accusations Commission regarding his appointment of an interim Bogota mayor.
The party members accused President Juan Manuel Santos of the crime of prevarication, or deliberate evasion of the law, by having named Education Minister Maria Fernanda Campo as interim mayor of Bogota, while the process of replacing suspended Polo Democratico Mayor Samuel Moreno Ocampo continues.
Party spokesperson Senator Gloria Ines Ramirez said that “The Minister Maria Fernanda Campo is not allowed to be placed in charge because she must be appointed [by the party] and also the complaint is because the official is not from the Polo,” newspaper El Espectador reported Thursday.
“The ruling of the State Council, solicited by the same presidential palace, considers that the president should appoint and not direct. What’s more, it clarifies that the designation must be of a shortlist candidate from the party of the suspended local or regional official,” explained Ramirez.
On Wednesday, Santos rejected earlier allegations from the party that he was intentionally delaying the process of choosing a new mayor by rejecting various shortlist candidate chosen by the Polo Democratico, stating that, “It has not been — as some have said — a deliberate process of delaying a decision.”