This Friday, the Council of State decreed the temporary suspension of the act by which Sara Vélez was appointed as expert commissioner of the Creg. According to what was expressed by the high court, Vélez was disqualified for having participated in the Board of Directors of the Electrificadora del Meta (Emsa), even when it had been delegated by the then Minister of Mines and Energy, Diego Mesa.
(Creg, Dane and Banrep are defining an indicator for the electrical system).
“The Council of State considered that the status of member of the board of directors of Electrificadora del Meta that the minister exercised does constitute the role of administrator of a public service company that the law establishes as a disqualifying factor”they expressed.
It should be remembered that Vélez entered the Commission on August 5, as one of the last appointments made by President Iván Duque.
This was sued, arguing that Vélez did not have the required experience as well as having an inability to be part of a Board of a public service company in the last year.
(A deficit in the gas balance is approaching in 2027, according to Upme).
Regarding the length of experience, the lawsuit stated that “In this case, compliance with a requirement consisting of having six years of technical experience in the energy sector was not accredited.”
During the process, Vélez argued that her technical experience as an advisor to the Creg and advisor to the Vice Ministry of Energy totaled more than 7 years, which complied with what was required by law.
In fact, during the process, the delegate from the Attorney General’s Office also asked the Council of State not to suspend Vélez, stating that the argument of the experience was fulfilled by Vélez. For thisthe court decided not to take this argument as the basis for the precautionary suspension, but rather the attached one, which argued that she was disqualified from holding office for having been on the Board of Emsa.
(Intervening the Creg: the reactions for and against).
This measure of the Council of State is precautionary while the body makes a substantive decision on the case.
BRIEFCASE
