Colombia: CNE Denies Petro's Humane Colombia Legal Status

Colombia’s National Electoral Council (CNE), issued a statement Wednesday confirming they haven't granted Humane Colombia, the political movement led by Gustavo Petro, legal status.

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“No decision has been adopted,” the CNE announced after five council members (two of former president Alvaro Uribe’s Democratic Center, and three others of Radical Change, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party) voted against granting the movement legal status as a political party. 

“The CNE just rejected the right of Humane Colombia to be a political movement with legal status. Eight million voters and presence in the Senate didn’t seem enough for them. We are witnessing a profound arbitrariness,” Petro tweeted.

During the second round of votes in the presidential election, Petro obtained over eight million votes. After coming in second in the presidential race, he obtained a seat in the Senate while vice-presidential candidate Angela Maria Robledo gained a place in the Chamber of Representatives.

Robledo also expressed her outrage, warning the decision affects the movement’s “possibility to participate in regional elections as a party and… make use of the media according to the Opposition Statute.”

Current council members will be replaced on August 31, when their term ends. According to political analysts, this is cause for concern since legislators choose the nine council members and the composition of the council typically reflects that of Congress.

Today, the Democratic Center and Radical Change have the majority of seats, and both parties are openly anti-Petro.  

The CNE will hold another vote on the issue on August 29.

Hollman Morris, a member of Bogota’s City Council, condemned the decision via Twitter. “The opposition continues to be murdered with bullets and also with political decisions like the one made by @CNE_COLOMBIA hours ago, by not granting legal status to Humane Colombia. Democracy without opposition is Dictatorship,” Morris argued.

According to Semana “the fundamental issue with Humane Colombia’s legal status is that Petro decided to run not for Humane Colombia, but for a coalition of forces known as the Decents’ List.” However, for opposition legislators like Ivan Cepeda, senator for the Democratic Pole, the decision reveals “the anti-democratic character of Colombia’s electoral system.”