Bogotá. Polo Democrático member Iván Cepeda reiterated today that the decision of the Colombian National Register to carry out a recount of the votes cast for the Senate in the last general election is unconstitutional.
In statements to a local radio station, the senator pointed out that “this is really a coup and an opportunity to destabilize the country” in an attempt to destabilize the constitutional order being promoted by “a few bad losers”: former Presidents Álvaro Uribe and Andrés Pastrana.
Cepeda recalled that Uribe recognizes the defeat of his Democratic Center party in the March 13 elections, but when he saw that the victory of the Historic Pact was broader than he thought, he initially ignored it and then asked for a recount of the Voices, something that doesn’t exist in Colombia’s legal system.
For his part, Augusto Ocampo, a lawyer specializing in criminal investigations, pointed out that “without legal support for the testimony, a different decision would be a blatant violation of the fundamental rights to due administrative process”.
Stressing that Chancellor Alexander Vega’s request was nonbinding, he said he was waiting “in this sea of nonsense for the CNE (National Electoral Council) to finally reject the recount request.”
He added that mocking the work of the republic’s judges was already a blow to the rule of law, the down payment of a dictatorial authoritarian regime.
Yesterday, the national registrar announced that it would request a recount of Senate votes today due to the irregularities found.
Before making the announcement, however, he cautioned that in these elections, which were won by the Columbia Historical Pact coalition of alternative, progressive, and leftwing forces, “there is no possibility of cheating.”