Once the negotiation to renew the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) was blown up by the Popular Party, the Government trusts that, at least, this new break in the talks will serve to accelerate the appointments also pending in the Constitutional Court (TC), two by the Executive and two by the Council. And the governing body of the judges seems to be working now, after the blockade of conservative magistrates, to put its two magistrates on the table.
The progressives have already opted for one, the magistrate of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court, José Manuel Bandrés, while the conservatives have agreed to meet again the negotiating commission created between the two blocks to reach an understanding, after deciding last night to promote the appointments. As sources from the organ confirm to La Vanguardia, the six members that make up this commission will meet this afternoon to try this time to make real progress.
The progressives' intent in putting their candidate's name black on white is to force conservatives to come forward. They met yesterday and concluded the need to carry out these appointments.
To the pressure of the progressive members is added that of the Executive, through the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, has urged the conservative sector to put on the table and its proposal to join the court of constitutional guarantees. The proposal of the progressive sector, Juan Manuel Bandrés, would complete the list of two magistrates of the TC that corresponds to appoint the CGPJ. And, after this movement, the Executive would designate the other two magistrates that it is responsible for proposing, without having to undertake this operation alone, to which it would be forced in the event that the conservative sector insisted on keeping the renewal of the CT.
Bolaños has celebrated that some meetings have already taken place within the CGPJ to resume negotiations to try to unblock the renewal of the TC. “I want to remind you that since July, the General Council of the Judiciary can already appoint two magistrates of the Constitutional Court. On September 13, the deadline for them to appoint their two magistrates of the TC ended, with which we are already late”, the minister warned.
"I want to ask the members of the CGPJ, especially those who have been most reluctant, the same thing that any judge asks citizens: to comply with the law, to do so as soon as possible and that we begin to resolve this mess that has been caused by the lack of personality and leadership of Feijóo”, Bolaños has summoned the conservative sector of the governing body of the judges.
The Conservatives had resisted complying with the mandate to appoint two TC magistrates after the Government promoted a reform to impose a deadline on them, which was September 13.
They hoped that the PP and PSOE would agree to renew the body of the judges, which is already on the way to four years expired, and it would be the new Council that would elect the two TC magistrates who are pending renewal.
However, the latest move by Núñez Feijóo has forced the Conservatives to rethink their strategy, suspecting that the situation could stall until at least 2024.
Council sources trust that in the plenary session at the end of this month the name of two magistrates can already be taken by consensus so that they will be voted by a majority of the body.
This would give the Government free rein to name the two of its own that are pending. Although the Executive has already slipped that it could carry out its appointments without waiting for the CGPJ, there are certain doubts about its constitutionality because the law establishes that the renewal of the TC must be by thirds, that is, four by four magistrates.
If these four appointments are finally carried out, the TC would turn around and have a progressive majority and a change in the presidency. Today the name that sounds most powerful to replace Pedro González Trevijano is that of Cándido Conde-Pumpido, who already held the position of State Attorney General with José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
Feijóo's movement is going to prevent him from reaching an agreement with the PSOE to appoint another magistrate by the Senate after the resignation due to health reasons of magistrate Alfredo Montoya and who should be from the conservative quota.
