Contrary to what happened in the Senate with Iván Name, in the Chamber there were few reactions to the mention of its president, Andrés Calle, in the scandal of alleged cost overruns in the purchase of tank trucks from the National Disaster Risk Management Unit (UNGRD). . This was pointed out by Sneyder Pinilla, former deputy director of the entity, of supposedly receiving 1,000 million pesos from irregular purchases to facilitate the processing of reforms in Congress.
(You can see: Andrés Calle on the tank truck scandal: ‘I have had no relationship with said contract’)
For the moment, the mention in the scandal has not brought major political consequences to Calle. Neither in his party nor in the corporation he presides have any major actions against him been proposed. EL TIEMPO spoke with several liberals and they indicated that No further mention of the issue has been made on the bench.. She has “kept a prudent silence” while the situation becomes clearer.
Is very different from the Green Alliance, where in recent days they have been There are multiple voices that have asked that Sandra Ortiz and Iván Name be expelled from the party. The latter has also been asked to step aside from the presidency of the Senate.
Chamber representative Andrés Calle and former president César Gaviria.
Photo:Private file
The case of Andrés Calle has not been the same. The only action that has been taken by the Liberal Party came from community oversight. On Friday afternoon, the observer, Rodrigo Llano, wrote a letter to the national ethical council to open “a preliminary investigation with a view to clarifying whether Representative Calle or any other member of our community is involved in such a scandalous case.”
However, sources within the community indicated that the silence that has been maintained does not mean that actions will not be taken against the representative if any possible irregular activity is verified. They even pointed out that if a formal investigation is opened against the current president of the House, Most likely, the director of the community, former president César Gaviria, will ask the ethics council to take away the voice and vote of the representative for Córdoba.
(Also: Who is the questioned and silent Carlos Ramón González Merchán)
If this possibility were to materialize, this would imply that Andrés Calle would not be able to preside over the House of Representatives, so the corporation would have to be directed by one of its vice presidents until the liberal’s presidency ends.
Other community sources indicated that no one has decided to come out and speak against Andrés Calle in a sense of “solidarity of the body” given the complex situation and that there is no formal investigation against him. Some congressmen would have spoken about the seriousness of the events, but in conversations among themselves, but not in official dialogues.
A similar tone has been taken by the House of Representatives for the moment. In this Tuesday’s plenary session, there were no further references to Andrés Calle. Although it was proposed that the projects supported by the Petro government be removed from the agenda, only one representative made reference to the possible irregular actions of the president of the Chamber.
Several pointed out that the situation tried to be exploited by the Democratic Center to stop the project that prohibits bullfighting, but the legitimacy of the current head of the Chamber has not been questioned. For the moment, the governance of Andrés Calle would be safeguarded
Andrés David Calle, president of the House of Representatives and Sneyder Pinilla, former deputy director of disaster management UNGRD.
Photo:Private file.
The only voice against it from the House has been that of representative Jennifer Pedraza. “He should resign from the presidency of the House of. “I have never been more proud to vote blank in this presidential election because I knew who Andrés Calle was,” said the congresswoman for the Dignidad party in the plenary session this Tuesday.
Street’s version
The president of the Chamber, Andrés Calle, has not spoken publicly regarding his mention in the UNGRD scandal. He limited himself to releasing a statement regarding the issue.
“In light of the recent statements by Mr. Sneyder Augusto Pinilla, I express my firm commitment to transparency and truth (…) Therefore, I offer my full support to promptly clarify the facts related to the alleged irregular purchase of some tank trucks in La Guajira”, starts the text.
Next, he distances himself from any link with that contract, whose money would have been used to influence the approval of the health reform in the Chamber and the national budget. “I want to make it clear that I have not had any relationship with said contract, nor with any other similar activity, which is why I ask the authorities to act quickly in this matter, but at the same time with total objectivity so that the attention with unfounded incriminations”, says.
Likewise, he stated that he will defend his right to a good name: “There is no doubt that I will defend my reputation at all levels (…) I will not tolerate any attempt at defamation or injustice towards me.”
