2024-08-22 19:58:09
The high court, which has the constitutional right to nominate a candidate to the list that will be analyzed by the Senate of the Republic, selected a select group from the pool of 65 candidates who put their names forward for consideration.
HUILA DAILY, CURRENT NEWS
The Council of State, in exercise of its constitutional power to nominate a candidate for the list that will be evaluated by the Senate of the Republic, has selected a small group of 10 candidates from among the 65 applicants who initially submitted their candidacy. This process is part of the election of the next Attorney General of the Nation for the period 2025-2029.
On Wednesday, August 21, 2024, the Plenary Chamber of the Council of State announced the list of the 10 candidates who remain in the competition to be nominated by the high court. Among those selected are prominent figures such as the former Minister of Housing, Luis Felipe Henao; the former Comptroller General, Sandra Morelli; and Martha Lucía Zamora, former director of the National Agency for the Legal Defense of the State (Andje), who had a public conflict with President Gustavo Petro.
This process is parallel to the powers that the President of the Republic and the Supreme Court of Justice also have to appoint a candidate. In this context, the preselected candidates must present their arguments in a public hearing before the court, after which a candidate will be chosen who will be part of the final list that will be submitted to the Senate. The objective is to define who will succeed Margarita Cabello Blanco in the position of Attorney General, whose term ends in January 2025.
It is important to note that, of the 65 original candidates, some important names were left out of the select group, such as the former Minister of Justice, Wilson Ruiz Orejuela. In addition, Ovidio Claros, former magistrate and president of the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá, withdrew his candidacy citing personal reasons in a letter addressed to the magistrates of the Plenary Chamber of the Council of State.
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On the other hand, the Supreme Court of Justice has reduced its own list of candidates to 22. Among the prominent names are the Secretary of the Senate, Gregorio Eljach; former Senator Germán Varón Cotrino of Cambio Radical; and former magistrate of the Council of State, Lucy Jeanette Bermúdez. In addition, President Gustavo Petro also has the possibility of proposing candidates, among whom could be the former Minister of Justice, Néstor Osuna, and the jurist Mónica Cifuentes, although some of these names have already been discarded by the Supreme Court.
In summary, the list of the 10 candidates still in the race for the Attorney General’s Office includes:
– Luis Felipe Henao: former Minister of Housing.
– Sandra Morelli: excontralora General.
– Luis Andrés Fajardo: former judge and former deputy public defender.
– Martha Lucía Zamora: former deputy prosecutor and former director of the National Legal Agency of the State.
– Gustavo Arnulfo Quintero Navas: lawyer.
– Jorge Hernando Pedraza Gutiérrez: former senator.
– Diego Alejandro González: former Senate committee secretary.
– David Suárez Tamayo: lawyer and teacher.
– Roberto Carlos Badel: lawyer and former contractor.
– Emiro Vieda Silva: former criminal judge.
The final selection of the shortlist that will be presented to the Senate will mark a key step in defining the next head of the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation.
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