A man carries a chair to the headquarters of the Constitutional Court.
Return to the starting box. The two main political parties start the year practically the same as they ended. That is, accusing each other of blocking the renewal of the Judiciary. Certainly, the levels of tension are lower, every time the situation in the Constitutional Court did get unstuck, after days of enormous tension with denunciations of coups and an unbearable verbal escalation in Congress. But, once again, PP and PSOE return to the usual refrain without any sign of real negotiation. There is no contact between their leaders.
It should be noted that Spain will assume the presidency of the European Union in 2023. For Pedro Sánchez, it is the definitive endorsement of his international role. The head of the Executive likes to rub shoulders with international leaders, he feels comfortable, and in Moncloa they show their chests for having won important battles within community institutions such as the Iberian exception. A milestone that our country reaches without fulfilling its duties in judicial matters. That is, first to renew the CGPJ to, immediately afterwards, advance in the reinforcement of its independence, as the commissioner of the branch has demanded on many occasions.
“We do not believe that Sánchez will reach the European presidency with this issue as he has it,” sources from Genoa suggested to the newspaper El Mundo last Wednesday. Then, the PP had already re-registered a bill in the Lower House so that “judges choose judges”, as Pablo Casado did twice in his day. Thus, the judicial career would directly elect 12 of the 20 members, thus complying in the eyes of Feijóo with the demands of Brussels. “We will denounce in the EU officially, explicitly and in writing” what is happening, said the opposition leader.
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In the Government they flatly reject this possibility and only see one person responsible for everything continuing to stop, the Popular Party. It was Félix Bolaños, Sánchez’s negotiator, who was in charge of making it clear that the positions are still completely at odds. According to the Executive, the agreement with Feijóo was already closed but his “legs trembled” so he would only have to go back to that text and sign it. And he rejected, in an interview in La Sexta, the change in model: “The current one is perfectly democratic and constitutional, the result of an agreement between the PP and the PSOE in 2001.”
In short, everything remains the same. Moncloa wants to renew based on the current system and then agrees to make tweaks such as reinforcing the independent profile of the candidates, but without the judges choosing Thursdays. Genoa, on the other hand, would agree to sit down again with Sánchez – something that weeks ago she assured that she would not do – if his bill is processed in parallel with socialist support. Pure battle of the story, to accuse the other of being the one who blocks.
“People are lost on this issue. He knows that there is an important mess that affects the courts, that there is a blockade from a long time ago and little else. They blame us for the political anger, the insults, but without going into the substance of the matter”, according to the x-ray of a PP deputy, in an informal conversation with El HuffPost. Is there room to unleash the situation? “If it wasn’t done last year, I see it as practically impossible. There is sedition, embezzlement and now the elections are just around the corner. Our people don’t want to, they prefer to leave everything like that to agree something with Sánchez. The context is devilish.”“
In Feijóo’s environment they do not rule out that the legislature concludes without an agreement. In fact, after verifying that the Executive would touch on the crime of sedition, it already stated that the pact “with this PSOE” would not be possible. “What are the Magi going to bring us? Excuses and more excuses to continue blocking the CGPJ ”, they denounce in Ferraz, who daily update on their social networks the days without reaching a solution. This Saturday 1494 will have passed, more than four years.
“We will have to see what happens with Brussels. The EU’s concern is great. It is true that they have given warnings but if they really get serious, maybe it can be unlocked ”, interprets a socialist baron. “If it damages our image as a country? Of course. Nobody understands that we have come this far.”
This article is originally published on es.noticias.yahoo.com
