The progressive members of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) have given up the idea of resigning en bloc to force a renewal of the body of judges as proposed by the member Álvaro Cuesta.
This has been decided in a meeting held today by the minority group and after seeing the positions of the rest of the members of the group, as explained by organ sources to La Vanguardia. Given the impossibility of resigning en bloc without the risk of abandoning public office, cascading individual resignations had been studied, an option also rejected.
According to these same sources, none of the members, except for Concepción Sáez -who already announced her resignation last week- and Cuesta supported this idea. In fact, at the meeting Cuesta was reproached for asking Mozo to hold the meeting without previously asking the rest of the members his position on the matter.
Two weeks ago, the vocal Concepción Sáez, proposed by Izquierda Unida, communicated to the acting president, Rafael Mozo, his intention to resign through a letter, which was released on Wednesday of last week. The communication caught the rest of the council members off guard, who were unaware of such a decision.
The next day, the progressive member, former PSOE deputy, Álvaro Cuesta made a move and asked the president to raise in the plenary session that is being held this week the need to open a debate on the possibility of an en bloc resignation to force the PP and PSOE .
Rafael Mozo made three decisions, at the request of Cuesta. The first, to celebrate the following day, that is, last Friday, a meeting of progressive members, as a demonstration of the beginning of a serious debate on the option of standing up. The thesis of the progressives is that if the seven members plus the one proposed by the PNV, Enrique Lucas, resign, the body would be left without the minimum quorum so that it can continue to function.
In that first meeting, however, it was already seen that the option of en bloc resignation is not very viable given the doubts that there may be criminal liability for abandoning public office.
The Conservatives are clear that they will not resign due to suspicions that it is an attempt at political pressure and a game of confusion as it occurred the same day that the motion of no confidence was voted against the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and that the director resigned General of the Civil Guard María Gámez for a case of corruption that affects her husband.
Mozo's other decision was to hold a new meeting tomorrow Tuesday of the progressive group, in addition to opening the debate in plenary session on Thursday, where it will be decided whether to admit Sáez's resignation.
While the powder keg in the CGPJ is lit again, PSOE and PP remain impassive. “It is a dead debate”, they maintain on both sides, although they acknowledge that these latest events have revived it. Both of them take it for granted that until the next general elections are over, the CGPJ will continue to function, despite the wear and tear that it entails on the judiciary. The Supreme Court has fewer and fewer magistrates, since it cannot make appointments while the council is in office, a situation that will worsen in the coming months due to upcoming retirements that will not be able to be covered.
