The congressional commission in charge of investigating former President Alvaro Uribe will continue with two members after its chairman resigned Wednesday and no other lawmaker was found willing to replace the representative.
The resignation of Representative Heriberto Escobar comes one day before the commission is to continue hearing Uribe about his alleged role in the illegal wiretapping of government critics, journalists and Supreme Court judges by intelligence agency DAS.
Uribe is accused by victims of the wiretapping of being the mastermind behind the scandal that already sent his former chief of staff to jail while facing criminal charges. The former president said Wednesday he and members of his government under criminal investigation are victim of a “criminal revenge” against his administration.
The commission investigating the charges against the former president was formed in October with three members of the House of Representatives’ 15-member Investigation and Accusation Committee, but has been plagued by resignations since then.
Escobar is the fifth member of the commission to resign and was the only remaining member of the original commission.
Because no other member of the committee was willing to replace the PIN representative, the remaining two members, Yahir Acuña and Carlos Osorio, decided to continue the investigation without a third member.
On Thursday, Uribe will appear before the commission to continue the first public hearing that was suspended two months ago.