In what can be read as a clever political move, President Gustavo Petro decided to go for Gregorio Eljach, current Secretary of the Senate, as his candidate for the list of Attorney General of the Nation, which is elected precisely by that legislative chamber.
Eljach, considered one of the powerful in Colombian politics, He has been in the Senate Secretariat for twelve years and, in fact, has just been re-elected by the corporation for two more years. Although he secured his position in the Legislature, He kept alive the aspiration to be nominated by the Supreme Court of Justice to the Attorney General’s Officeand to this end he registered for the call opened by that high court and was on the list of eligible candidates until the last moment.
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However, this week the judges opted for a profile of greater legal relevance and nominated former congressman Germán Varón Cotrino. This situation was taken advantage of by the Casa de Nariño, which, despite having opened a public call in which there were already 22 preselected candidates, decided to go for the one it considers a winning candidate, given his closeness to all the senators.
Gregorio Eljach
Supreme Court of Justice
EL TIEMPO has learned that in recent days Eljach has been contacted by people close to the head of state to propose the possibility of being the Government’s candidate for the high office. Although there has not yet been an official announcement, at least two high-ranking sources from the Palace confirmed to EL TIEMPO that President Gustavo Petro will nominate Eljach for the list that includes, in addition to Varón Cotrino, former minister Luis Felipe Henao.
Petro decided to go for Eljach despite the possibility of an eventual lawsuit before the Council of State, given the virtual ignorance of the rules of the game for the selection that the Executive itself had determined to select its candidate to succeed Margarita Cabello. However, there are precedents such as the inclusion in the list of candidates for Attorney General of Néstor Humberto Martínez, who had not registered in the call made at the time by the government of Juan Manuel Santosis cited as a precedent by those who defend the decision.
Gustavo Petro
EFE
The President, who has known Eljach since his time in the Senate (he was there until 2022, before winning the First Magistracy), preferred to nominate him over candidates who had registered with the Presidency and who are completely trusted by him.such as lawyer Héctor Carvajal. He represents Petro in the sensitive process of the National Electoral Council and many considered that he would be the chosen one by the Casa de Nariño.
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Eljach is considered an old fox of Congress. Since the election is held by the Senate, where many owe him favors, it was considered from several quarters that a possible candidacy of his would have little opposition in the race for the Attorney General’s Office. However, In the Supreme Court, where he had registered, the majority of judges considered that his profile was more political than legal was not suitable for the body in charge of disciplinary control in the country.
Eljach has faced controversy during his tenure in the Senate. In fact, the Attorney General’s Office of Eduardo Monteaegre, of whom he is a well-known opponent, announced at the time that it was investigating him for the alleged leak of confidential information to the controversial former magistrate Jorge Pretelt, who was finally convicted in the corruption scandal that shook the Constitutional Court almost a decade ago.
The President is trying to get the Senate to choose his candidate and thus have him in the Attorney General’s Office –a control body that he does not like in essence, especially because of its function of disciplining those elected by popular vote– a person he trusts completely in times of high political tension.
POLITICAL EDITORIAL OF EL TIEMPO
