Constitutional Court suspends CNE investigation against Petro

Colombia’s Constitutional Court suspended an ongoing National Electoral Council (CNE) investigation against President Gustavo Petro and his 2022 campaign.

Petro has requested the court to shut down the investigation, claiming that his presidential immunity barred the electoral court from investigating him.

The plenary chamber of the Constitutional Court agreed to suspend the CNE proceedings while its magistrates come to a final ruling on the legitimacy of the CNE investigation.

The suspension had been proposed by magistrate Vladimir Fernandez, who entered the Constitutional Court in 2023 after serving as the president’s judicial aide.

In an initial response, Petro said on social media platform X that “the Constitutional Court halts a coup d’état,” warning that “they will keep trying.”

The president has been accusing his far-right political rivals of trying to overthrow Colombia’s first leftist president since the CNE began overthrowing him.

According to the president, Colombia’s constitution only allows Congress to investigate the violations of campaign finance limits alleged by far-right political rivals.

The House of Representatives’ notoriously politicized Accusations Committee, which is led by Petro loyalists at the moment, has also been investigating the alleged campaign irregularities.

The CNE, whose magistrates are elected by the political parties’ representatives in Congress, has long suffered legitimacy issues over the political convenience of its decisions.