Almost two weeks after the full chamber of the National Electoral Council (CNE) voted in favor of charging the Petro Presidente 2022 campaign, for the alleged exceeding of limitsthe clarification made by one of the magistrates who voted in favor of the accusation was known.
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This is Altus Baquero who explained his position regarding the presentation: although he said yes to it, he expressed several reservations.
As EL TIEMPO learned, in a five-page document Baquero explained those points with which he does not agree with the determination made on October 8.
Baquero expressed his reservations regarding the inclusion of the president because he believes that the comprehensive jurisdiction would be ignored..
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“It is worth asking if it can be stated, as stated in the decision, that the opening of the investigation and the formulation of charges must be directed against the first and second round presidential campaign of the Historical Pact Coalition, represented by citizen Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego, candidate”he says in a first point.
Altus Alejandro Baquero Rueda, CNE magistrate.
In the letter, known to EL TIEMPO, it is also evident that the magistrate later went on to clarify that there was an exceeding of limits, but indicated that, In their opinion, the allegedly irregular conduct was less than that expressed in the accusation and would have only occurred in the first round..
“This office considers that, in the case of the second presidential round of the campaign of former candidate Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego, the limits established for the year 2022 would not have been violated”reads the clarification, which also explains the reasons why the exceeding of the limits would not have been so great.
For Baquero, the lack would have been for 856,102,872 pesos that were not reported in the first round and not for the more than 3,000 million that the accusation says. In that sense, the expenses of the Petro campaign, according to the magistrate’s calculations, would have been 29,240,782,873 pesos and not 32,245,881,834 pesos.
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To reach that conclusion, Baquero agreed with President Gustavo Petro’s thesis that electoral witnesses cannot be considered campaign expenses, since they do not correspond to any type of political proselytism. “The role of electoral witnesses is limited to election day, that is, outside the electoral campaign period, and is limited to the supervision of said process”was the thesis of the robe.
Under all these arguments, Judge Altus Baquero indicated that the investigation and the formulation of charges are appropriate, but he reiterated his doubts regarding the presidential inclusion and expressed his objections to some of the evidentiary elements included. However, His vote served to proceed with the accusation and it will be in the process where the observations he made will end up being developed..
PORTFOLIO
With political information EL TIEMPO
