The president of the General Council of the Judiciary, Vicente Guilarte, has compared the bill registered by Podemos in Congress to reduce the majorities necessary to renew the governing body of judges, whose mandate has expired for more than five years, with one of the principles of the Franco movement.
“An old Francoist taught us that one of the principles of the movement was that the institutional system of the State was governed by the principles of unity of power and coordination of functions, and that is what is stated in the proposal that is in Congress,” Guilarte has assured in a justice forum organized by the Illustrious College of Lawyers of Madrid (ICAM) on precisely the renewal of the CGPJ.
In this sense, the president of the body sees the proposal that Podemos registered in Congress in April for its renewal as “terrifying.” In it, the party proposes enabling the option of choosing members by absolute majority in the Cortes in case of not achieving the support of three-fifths, currently necessary. Furthermore, Podemos adds that Congress would choose 16 of the members of the organization while the Senate, the other four, thus reducing the weight of the Upper House, which now chooses eight.
According to Guilarte, this proposal aims for the CGPJ to become “a section of the Government” in which “the president would be a head of service integrated into the administration.” “It would mean the end of our institutional architecture,” he warned. Furthermore, he has assured that “not even POSE can take it seriously” as it would be “destroying the separation of powers.”
With “sincere efforts,” added the president of the organization, Guilarte has proposed “reducing tension and avoiding confrontation” with the idea of “objectifying the appointments of the judicial leadership.”
Guilarte has attacked “all” the deputies and senators, stating that “just as they tell me to resign, they should resign.” Regarding the negotiation of the PSOE and the PP to reach an agreement that unblocks the situation of the Council, its president has lamented that he has “the terrible feeling that they get together, each one tells their own story again and nothing happens, every day.” today we don’t know if they have made any progress.
“All parties want their share of power,” lamented Guilarte, whom he blamed for the current situation of the body. “Go question those who do not reach the agreement, not us,” he claimed. Furthermore, the president of the governing body of the judges has assured that they are not “an expired Council” but “an extended Council.”
