BOGOTA, June 10 (Reuters) - The president of Colombia’s legislative Commission of Investigation and Accusation, Gloria Arizabaleta, has proposed suspending President Gustavo Petro from his duties until June 21, according to a document published Wednesday.
Arizabaleta’s motion is tied to a probe into Petro’s alleged political meddling and cites actions described as “extremely serious or serious.”
Petro, whose four-year term ends in August, has been accused of involvement in the presidential campaign of the leftist Ivan Cepeda, candidate for Petro’s own Pacto Historico party. Cepeda will face right-wing lawyer Abelardo De La Espriella in a runoff vote on June 21.
The proposal must be debated and approved by all 16 members of the commission and subsequently by the Senate before it can take effect, according to lawmakers and legal experts.
“President Gustavo Petro has not been suspended; he remains in office,” Miguel Silvera Padilla, a member of the commission, said in a video.
The Commission of Investigation and Accusation is part of the lower house of Congress and is tasked with evaluating complaints and criminal or disciplinary charges against high-ranking officials.
(Reporting by Carlos Vargas and Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Iñigo Alexander, Editing by Daina Beth Solomon)
