Álvaro Uribe would be a candidate for Congress in 2026, on the closed list of the Democratic Center.

Former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez could return to Congress. This was confirmed on Wednesday, September 10, by Gabriel Vallejo , director of the Democratic Center , who said that, if the former president's legal issues allow it, he will be on the closed list for the Senate.

"We aspire to have 25 senators. If judicial matters allow, former President Álvaro Uribe will be number 25 on the list. He's the only one we have already secured. Former President Uribe is number 25 on the closed Senate list for the Democratic Center," Vallejo stated in an interview with reporters at the Congress of the Republic.

He added that it was the former president himself, who was prosecuted in the first instance for procedural fraud and witness bribery, who proposed this formula: "It's an honor for the party. The former president is in cahoots with the Democratic Center; this is his party, and he's in cahoots with our presidential candidates."

The leader added that a committee will recommend to the party the order of the list they will present for the 2026 legislative elections.

"Academic training, reputation, honorability, regional representation, and identification with the party's principles will be taken into account. We want to tell the country that the Democratic Center will lead the list that will contribute to Colombia's recovery," Vallejo asserted.

Former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez returned to Congress in 2014 when his party, the Democratic Center, participated in legislative elections for the first time. At that time, it was the party with the most seats in the Senate, with 20 parliamentarians after obtaining 2,113,347 seats on the closed list.

In 2018, he ran again, but this time on an open list. In those elections, Uribe became the senator with the most votes in the country's history, with 872,000 votes.

But in August 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, he left his seat to prioritize his defense in the court case, which already resulted in a guilty verdict in the first instance and is now in the hands of the Superior Court of Bogotá.

"Judge José Luis Barceló summoned me for questioning more than two years ago, in a case I was unaware of, the existence of which the same judge had denied. In a previous case, and in connection with this one, before the same judge, I was given a free version of my statement, which I was never allowed to give. The house arrest measure, with the violation of eight procedural guarantees, with illegal and malicious wiretaps, including those of one of my lawyers, selective leaks to political and journalistic adversaries instead of publishing the entire file, detained based on inferences, without direct evidence, without receiving several statements, with witnesses in my favor being subpoenaed, without my lawyers being able to cross-examine, with the judge warning of possible self-incrimination to help the other side hide messages, nullify any expectation of being able to return to the Senate, an institution in which I sought to be compliant and contribute with study to the different issues," he stated in his resignation letter.

Given Uribe's electoral record, the Democratic Center could boost its slate and thus guarantee a significant number of seats in Congress in 2026, something that will be decisive whether it comes to governing or opposing.