Luis Gilberto Murillo confirmed that he has no impediment to being Sergio Fajardo's vice president

On March 31, following a request from the Citizen Oversight Network, the National Electoral Council (CNE) announced that it would study the feasibility of the vice-presidential candidacy of Luis Gilberto Murillo, the current vice-presidential formula of Sergio Fajardo. This, taking into account that the Constitutional Court issued a ruling in 2012 ordering the politician's denial of the opportunity to hold any public office for the rest of his life.

“The National Electoral Council, through a decision given by Judge Pedro Felipe Gutiérrez, decided to raise awareness and open the investigation or procedure for the revocation of the registration of Mr. Gilberto Murillo Urrutia's candidacy,” said Pablo Bustos, president of the Oversight Network.

Faced with this process that has been going on social networks and has caused a lot of intrigue about what would happen if the former Minister of Environment were disabled, Murillo spoke to Revista Semana and surely stated that nothing will happen.

“This has to do with a fact that arose from the repair of a school that I did with five million pesos, where there was no crime and the issue was resolved in 2015. There is no impediment whatsoever. A citizen is reporting this situation to the National Electoral Council, considering that there is a disability but nothing happens. There is no impediment to being vice president,” Murillo told the Colombian media outlet, adding: “There is no such perpetual disability because the judge determined that the crime does not exist. The Attorney General's Office determined that there is no irregularity whatsoever and it is a fact that has been overcome”.

In addition, he pointed out that this new noise generated around the campaign he shares with Sergio Fajardo is part of the electoral contest, but that he is not interested because he will not let this affect the process being done with the Esperanza Center Coalition.

“There was an unfair trial, I made my defense and everything went in my favor. The people who are putting this topic up are misinformed and I think that. In part, this issue seeks to generate noise but nothing will happen because we will not let this affect the campaign,” said the vice-presidential candidate.

For this reason, the High Court of Quibdó sentenced Murillo to six months in prison. It should be noted that more than a decade later, a much deeper case was opened against him that ended his inability.

The process began in 2011 and was created precisely to apply for Murillo's disability. In the end, in 2013, the measure was granted and the politician was dismissed, since at that time he held, for the second time, the position of governor of Chocó.

It should be noted that Murillo filed an action to annul the deduction, but the Supreme Court denied him, and the Constitutional Court subsequently confirmed (in judgment SU917/13) the decision to suspend it for life. It is explained that the ruling is adapted to the decision of the Council of State which denies it the principle of favourability to apply to public office, and that it dismissed him in 2012 because his inability was still in force.

Despite this, according to Luis Gilberto Murillo's campaign, this decision was finally canceled and the political leader was exonerated in 2015. One sign that this decision was not implemented is that in 2016 he was appointed as Minister of Environment by President Juan Manuel Santos, and until the end of his administration, two years later, he was able to exercise without controversy over the disability.

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