Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and the country’s Supreme Court president Augusto Ibañez again clashed. This time Uribe accuses the magistrate of lying about a meeting that took place.
In an interview with newspaper El Espectador, Ibañez said Sunday morning that in a meeting between the Supreme Court president and the President of the Republic, Uribe had said the resignantion of one of the candidates for Prosecutor General could pave the way for the Presidency to present three new candidates.
However, in a brief statement, Uribe said “it is very serious for the institutions of Colombia that the President of the Supreme Court is telling lies about the conversations he had with the president of the Republic, as was published today (Sunday) in newspaper El Espectador.”
The high court and the Presidency find themselves in a deadlock over the election of a new Prosecutor General. According to the constitution, the Supreme Court elects the new PG from a shortlist provided by the President, but so the Court has so far neglected to elect any of the nominees that have been criticized for not having any experience with penal law.
Colombia’s previous Prosecutor General, Mario Iguaran, left office at the end of July. His responsibilities has temporarily been assumed by Iguaran’s assistant, Guillermo Mendoza.