BOGOTA (Reuters) -Colombia’s National Electoral Council (CNE) on Tuesday requested an investigation into the 2022 election campaign of President Gustavo Petro over alleged violation of financing limits, it said in a statement.The majority of the nine magistrates voted to approve an investigation into Petro and his campaign manager Ricardo Roa, who is currently the chief executive of Colombia’s majority state-owned energy company Ecopetrol.
The decision to investigate comes weeks after Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, warned of an alleged plot to assassinate him or remove him from power through the courts.
If the investigation goes ahead, Petro’s case would be heard by the accusation committee of the lower house of Congress, where presidents must be tried according to the constitution.
Petro’s coalition has a majority on that committee and he has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Roa’s case would be investigated by the attorney general’s office.
Preliminary inquiries found that contributions to Petro’s campaign exceeded the legal financing limit by 5.3 billion pesos ($1.27 million), as well as additional payments from two unions and private flights which where not reported in the campaign’s accounting.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime AcostaWriting by Julia Symmes Cobb)
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