Supreme court fails to elect prosecutor general for 15th time

Colombia’s Supreme Court on Thursday failed to elect a new national prosecutor general for the fifteenth time in a year, because they could not reach a consensus on which candidate should fill the position.

Margarita Cabello Blanco continues to lead the vote as court’s preferred candidate, winning ten votes this time round. She was followed by Jorge Anibal Gomez with nine votes and Marco Antonio Velilla with seven.

The election failed yet again because none of the candidates managed to obtain the sixteen votes required to elect a prosecutor general.

The ongoing saga regarding the prosecutor general’s election led Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to suggest that the president of the nation should choose the person appropriate for the position.

Uribe came under fire for proposing the declaration of a state of exception, with critics accusing him of suggesting the declaration in order to make an executive order to appoint a new prosecutor general.

The court will convene again on July 28 to vote again on who should replace Prosecutor General Mario Iguaran.

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