Constitutional Court of Colombia grants legal status to Gustavo Petro's party

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(CNN Spanish) -

The Constitutional Court of Colombia on Thursday ordered the National Electoral Council (CNE) to recognize the legal status of the Colombia Humana political movement, led by Senator Gustavo Petro.

The court's decision was sealed after a vote in favor of 8 magistrates and one abstention and paves the way for the left-wing politician to the presidential elections in 2022.

Petro was second in the 2018 elections, behind current president Iván Duque.

The ruling also now gives him the possibility to present his own lists for the legislative elections to be held on March 13, 2022.

Previously, as a political movement, Colombia Humana could only appear at the polls under the coalition scheme with other movements or parties.

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A supporter of presidential candidate Gustavo Petro holds up a poster of the left-wing politician that was launched by the Colombia Humana party in the 2018 presidential elections (Credit: LUIS ROBAYO / AFP via Getty Images)

Legal recognition of Colombia Humana

The CNE denied legal recognition to Colombia Humana as a party on December 20, 2018.

At that time, the electoral institution argued that the votes that Petro obtained in the second presidential round did not qualify him as a political party since an article of the Constitution establishes that to obtain legal status, lists must also be presented to Congress.

The Court considered that the more than eight million votes that Petro obtained in the elections “denotes the importance that the political group to which the defeated candidate belongs has legal status, since, without a doubt, their government programs represent a content ideological and programmatic that was the object of this significant citizen support ”.

For this reason, they added, “it is imperative” to access guarantees and rights within the framework of a pluralist State.

The party celebrated the ruling on Twitter: “Do not forget this day: September 16.

Historic date: Human Colombia, the people's movement, finally has legal status! ”He said.

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According to local media, Gustavo Petro leads several polls as the favorite candidate for the presidential elections, whose first round will be on Sunday, May 29, 2022.

If there is no winner by a majority of half plus one of the votes, a second round will be held on June 19 of the same year.

Many experts believe that if polling trends continue, it is very likely that the left could reach the presidency in 2022.

- Fernando Ramos from CNN en Español contributed to this report from Bogotá.

Colombia Elections Gustavo Petro