The proposal to summon Finance Minister Alberto Carrasquilla to a debate on a motion of censure to promote his exit from the ministerial cabinet is on standby in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both chambers are expected to renew the debate the following week, in order to vote whether to allow the debate to proceed or not.

The Senate’s Board decided October 9th to deny the proposed motion of censure against Finance Minister Alberto Carrasquilla thanks to the votes of ruling party legislators Ernesto Macias (Centro Democrático) and Eduardo Pulgar (Partido Social de la Unidad Nacional) against the vote of the opposition legislator Angélica Lozano (Alianza Verde). Opposition Senator Jorge Robledo (Polo Democrático Alternativo) proposed that the Senate’s floor decide whether or not to accept the Senate Board’s decision. However, after a three-hour discussion, the Senators couldn’t reach quorum at the time of voting, so this proposal was postponed. Meanwhile, the two independent parties – Partido Liberal and Cambio Radical- asked for more time to analyze the legal provenance of the debate, although they stated they’re a priori in favor of granting the opposition the right to advance the debate.

As for the House of Representatives, the proposal was presented October 9th after the Senate’s Board of Directors’ refusal. The Vice President of this chamber, Atilano Giraldo, (Cambio Radical-independent), said he had some doubts about whether the proposal was legally appropriate, so he proposed to submit to a plenary vote whether or not to allow the motion of censure to proceed. That decision was declared illegal by the opposition, who stated the House of Representatives’ Board had to allow the debate and summon Carrasquilla. In protest, the opposition left the House of Representatives’ floor and the quorum was thus broken, leaving the discussion postponed.

The request is due to criticism of Minister Carrasquilla regarding accusations of money laundering and embezzlement of public funds when Carrasquilla was Finance Minister during the presidency of Álvaro Uribe (Centro Democrático) between 2003 and 2007. Opposition congressman Germán Navas Talero (Polo Democrático Alternativo) states that “there are still local districts paying their debt as a consequence of Carrasquilla’s conduct”.

According to article 135 of the Constitution, after the debate on the motion of censure, the vote will take place between the third and the tenth day in Congress, with the presence of Minister Carrasquilla. The decision will require the absolute majority of the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, which is 55 and 86 congressmen respectively. If approved, the minister will exit the cabinet. If it is rejected, another motion of censure cannot be presented unless it is motivated by new events.