Colombian Lawmakers Weigh Suspending Petro Until June 21 Over Election Meddling Allegations
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jun 10
Colombian Lawmakers Weigh Suspending Petro Until June 21 Over Election Meddling Allegations
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 10
Summary
A motion filed Wednesday seeks to remove President Gustavo Petro from office through the June 21 runoff while investigators examine claims he interfered in the presidential campaign.
Gloria Arizabaleta, who heads the lower-house Commission of Investigation and Accusation, said the proposal is tied to conduct described in the probe as serious or extremely serious.
The measure is far from taking effect: all 16 members of the commission would need to approve it before it could move to the Senate, and a commission member said Petro remains in office.
The allegations center on Petro's supposed involvement in the campaign of leftist candidate Ivan Cepeda, who faces conservative lawyer Abelardo De La Espriella in the runoff.
The dispute lands less than two weeks before Colombians choose Petro's successor in a vote closely watched in Washington because Colombia is a key U.S. security and counternarcotics partner.