Minister of the Interior German Vargas Lleras admitted that he is having difficulty obtaining information from Colombian prosecutors pertaining to candidates in the October election accused of criminal activities, various Colombian media reported Tuesday.
After a meeting with Prosecutor General Viviane Morales Monday, Vargas Lleras announced that prosecutors have been unable to release a list of candidates with ongoing criminal proceedings against them.
The list should have been disclosed to leaders of the candidates’ respective coalition parties, who are expected to ban them from running in the October elections.
According to the minister, Morales promised that the problems will be resolved today.
“The prosecution has had some trouble,” Vargas Lleras said, according to RCN Radio.
“Last night I talked with the prosecutor general, and today we revisit the issue, not of [candidates] with criminal records, but those with ongoing criminal proceedings.”
Following the release of a report from the Colombian intelligence agency DAS indicating that hundreds of the candidates have criminal records, the minister began a thorough background screening.
The coalition parties subsequently denied over 500 electoral hopefuls candidacy.
Vargas however suspects that some unlawful candidates who have not yet been convicted, and therefore do not have criminal records, may have escaped under the radar.