The old acquaintances and new faces on the Green Alliance's Senate ticket | Secretly

With six months to go until the legislative elections, political parties are already deep into forming their lists. In recent days, there has been some movement in the race for a Senate seat in the Green Alliance, where the majority of those currently in the group are seeking to retain their seats. But, naturally, those in the House are already considering making the jump. So far, Duvalier Sánchez, Olga Lucía Velásquez, and Katherine Miranda are being talked about as candidates, while Catherine Juvinao is still evaluating the matter. New and familiar names are also emerging as candidates for the Senate: former representative Mauricio Toro and Jhon Amaya, brother of Boyacá Governor Carlos Amaya.

The new Constitutional Court judge, Carlos Camargo, who won a resounding victory this week in the Senate, has decided to take office before the Supreme Court's Plenary Session and not before President Gustavo Petro, who asked his party to support María Cristina Balanta. The election of the former Ombudsman, which was a defeat for the government, could be a prelude to what is to come in the relationship between the Casa de Nariño and the Senate. Camargo's decision has been made by other judges, not just at the Constitutional Court, as in the past President Petro kept them waiting for several hours and even failed to appear, which caused discontent at the Palace of Justice.

After eight years, 456 rulings, and the resolution of 750 jurisdictional disputes, José Fernando Reyes is leaving the Constitutional Court. The outgoing judge, who became president of the Court in 2024, has already received several tributes from his colleagues, who praise his work as a judge, his rigor, and his authority. Even in the Palace of Justice, he was seen as "the dean" of the court.

This week, during the Camargo election, Senator Paulino Riascos was recognized by the Senate plenary. Amid a discussion about the impediments to participating in the election, the senator from the Historic Pact party explained that he came to Congress as "a simple high school graduate," but will now receive his law degree from the University of Santiago de Cali. His colleagues celebrated his achievement.

In the Historic Pact, they will challenge the National Electoral Council's (CNE) decision to endorse the split from the Mais party, key to the creation of a single left-wing party. While at first glance, this decision favored them, the truth is that the electoral court postponed the split until they have ongoing investigations, which could take several years. The left fears that this decision will be repeated when the creation of a single party is discussed, which must be completed before October if they want to hold consultations ahead of the legislative elections.

Regarding the Constitutional Court, the high court has already received the minutes from the House of Representatives for the session held on Saturday, June 28, where the chamber approved the pension reform for the second time, after being ordered to repeat the fourth debate on the initiative due to procedural flaws in its initial approval. A final decision on this law, for which the President has pressured the Court, is expected to be made in the coming weeks. This will be one of the first "hot potatoes" for the new Justice Camargo.