On August 18, Álvaro Uribe Vélez resigned his seat in the Senate after
the Supreme Court of Justice ordered you as a precautionary measure; preventive house arrest.
With 857,141 votes, the decision to withdraw from the Legislature aims to shed the congressional immunity and, therefore, the Supreme Court's jurisdiction to continue hearing their case, transferring it to the Attorney General's Office to proceed and to a jurisdiction in which Uribe believes they will have more guarantees.
This thesis is supported by jurisprudence from that Court in response to the mass resignation of congress members implicated in the "parapolitics" scandal. By resigning, they sought to have their investigations transferred to the Prosecutor's Office. On that occasion, the Court determined that if the criminal act for which each congress member was being investigated had been committed during their tenure as public officials, the Court's jurisdiction would be maintained.
For the Uribe case, the theory seeking a change of jurisdiction is that the act committed was not done in his capacity as a congressman, as it occurred prior to the date he was elected congressman, and therefore, jurisdiction would be lost. However, nothing is clear because within the framework of the investigation, there are indications of a possible act by a member of his UTL that would link him to his current role. The Court is currently conducting an assessment and will have to rule on whether or not to transfer the case and the consequent investigation.
This as a prelude to what promises to be the judicial case of the century for the country, due to its ideological component, its political implications, and the background of division in Colombian society. It's a process from which it is already known that the parties will do everything possible to resort to all legal resources in a debate that will last several years, and that is likely to reach the Supreme Court again on appeal for a final ruling.
But beyond the legal analysis lies the political tsunami. Within the Democratic Center, there is a sense of orphanhood and a lack of clear leadership. With several proposals, including a national constituent assembly to reform the justice system, the implications of Uribe's resignation from his seat are profound for the party's caucus and its legislative work. Uribe's overwhelming personality, which managed to position the party's ideology, legislative initiatives, stances on various public policy debates, and the direct and firm spokespersonship he had exercised, will be diminished by the absence of a successor in Congress.
Paloma Valencia, Santiago Valencia, María Fernanda Cabal, Paola Holguín, José Obdulio Gaviria, Ernesto Macías, María Del Rosario Guerra, for example, are just 8 of the 18 senators from the Democratic Center who would be left orphaned after their leader, Álvaro Uribe Vélez, resigned his seat in the Senate.
The history of said party has shown that these political profiles are very radical in decision-making, and this was one of the many reasons why the former president led the team and conducted negotiations with other parties.
It's possible that María del Rosario Guerra or Paloma Valencia could take the reins of the Democratic Center in the Senate, aiming to maintain the cohesion that has characterized the party. However, replacing Uribe's leadership in the caucus is impossible.
Tactically, and facing the party's strategy for the defense of President Uribe and the future of the party, they have created a tactical committee in which Tomás Uribe, his eldest son, appears for the first time in the political debate, facing the challenge of proving his mettle, his leadership capacity, and his ability to unite, ahead of the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. This committee also includes Óscar Iván Zuluaga, Nubia Stella Martínez, Ernesto Macías, Gabriel Velasco, and Hernán Cadavid.
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Who could inherit Uribe's Senate seat?
If the court were to convict Uribe, it would not be possible to declare "Silla Vacía" because witness tampering, the reason for Uribe's detention, is not one of the four triggers in Colombia for such a decision to be enacted.
However, as long as the investigations against the former senator continue, the next person on the Democratic Center's list by votes would have to be called.
Although it is still uncertain who would replace Uribe, in that same vein, the next person who could inherit the position would be the former deputy of Cundinamarca, Yenny Rozo Zambrano, who lost with 24,930 votes. Rozo is a staunch follower of Duque's campaign and a strong defender of Uribe.
Aside.
With the Inter-American Court of Human Rights' ruling in the Petro case, a heated debate has opened in Colombia regarding the jurisdiction of the Attorney General's Office, the Comptroller General's Office, and Superintendencies, as well as the viability of the loss of investiture figure handled by the Council of State and the motion of censure as a political control mechanism in Congress over the executive branch. For the Court, popularly elected officials cannot be removed by control bodies other than the prosecutor's office within a criminal proceeding, as it considers it a violation of the political rights of those elected by the primary constituents.
The ruling orders the Colombian government to adapt its legal framework to disempower these bodies and, consequently, generate impunity for cases in which mayors and governors commit irregularities in the administration of power. Currently, there are 20,814 cases underway. This leaves doubt as to whether popular election is a license for committing irregularities.
With a stroke of a pen, the IACHR It grants Colombia one year for this modification, forgetting that irregularities are not all criminal, but also fiscal and administrative. For Prosecutor Carrillo, this ruling infringes upon the 190 years of existence of the Attorney General's Office of the Nation in Colombia.
While the ruling is final, the Agency for the Defense of the State, Colombia is studying the possibility of requesting clarification regarding the interpretation of its scope.