The National Electoral Council (CNE), the entity in charge of supervising political parties and campaigns in Colombia, opened a preliminary investigation into alleged irregularities in the Senate candidacy of former President Álvaro Uribe for the 2026 elections, due to his judicial process that could disqualify him.
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According to an order released this Saturday by citizen Inder Ramírez, who filed the challenge document before the CNE, The investigation originates after the first instance sentence that sentenced Uribe to 12 years in prison house arrest for a bribery case.
In the decision, dated October 8, the CNE resolves “decree the opening of the preliminary investigation” until the final registration of Uribe’s candidacy for the legislative elections of March 8, 2026 is formalized, in order to “review the possible configuration of the grounds for revocation.”
The organization recalled that, according to the Constitution, “those registrations of candidates who are subject to disqualification will be revoked” by the CNE.
The Magna Carta supports the document, establishes that they cannot be congressmen “who have been sentenced at any time by judicial sentence to imprisonment, except for political or culpable crimes.”
Uribe, who before becoming President (2002-2010) was a senator, governor of Antioquia (northwest) and mayor of Medellín, became the first former Colombian president criminally convicted last August. after being found guilty of bribery in criminal proceedings and procedural fraud.
Judge Sandra Heredia, in charge of the so-called ‘trial of the century’ in Colombiasentenced the 73-year-old politician and leader of the right-wing Democratic Center party to 12 years of house arrest and disqualified him from holding public office for more than eight years.
However, the Superior Court of Bogotá later granted him freedom until the appeal presented by his defense is resolved in the second instance. The decision will be known next Tuesday, October 21.
After learning of the opening of the preliminary investigation, Ramírez celebrated on the social network “triumph” which, according to him, “It demonstrates that no political power is above the Constitution or Justice.”
For its part, Centro Democrático insisted that Uribe’s registration for the Senate has not yet occurred. The registration period for candidates for Congress will begin on November 8 and will close just one month later.
“Therefore, it is important to specify that one cannot speak of an ‘irregular registration’ when the former president’s candidacy has not even been registered,” pointed out the match.
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The case
The case against Uribe dates back to 2012, when the then senator sued left-wing legislator Iván Cepeda before the Supreme Court of Justice for alleged witness tampering, while Cepeda was preparing a complaint in the Senate against him for alleged links with paramilitary groups.
The Court not only decided not to investigate Cepeda, but also opened a process against Uribe when finding indications that He manipulated witnesses to avoid being linked to paramilitarism.
Despite the conviction, Uribe continues to actively participate in Colombian political life, as the country enters the electoral campaign for next year’s elections.
The presidential elections will be on May 31 and, if necessary, there will be a second round on June 21.
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EFE
