Colombia’s highest administrative court nullified the election of Senate President Roy Barreras, a crucial element in President Gustavo Petro’s ambitious reform agenda, on Thursday.
The court, known as the Council of State, ruled that Barreras violated electoral rules by failing to leave his previous political party in time to run for re-election with his current party.
The senator failed to fulfil “his duty to resign his seat 12 months before the registration deadline for congressional elections for the period 2022-2026,” according to the court.
Between 2018 and 2022, Barreras served as a congressman for the Union Party for the People, but was re-elected in March 2022 as a senator for the Historic Pact for Colombia, the leftist coalition led by Petro.
Reacting to the development, Barreras said on Twitter that he would respect the decision since “court rulings must be respected even when they seem unjust to me.”
