OFF THE CUFF: Winds of change as nepotism resignations pour in

 RELATIVES of judges of the Electoral Tribunal (TE) resigned their posts within the entity on Monday April 20 after a public outcry of allegations of nepotism.

 The announcement came after a meeting of TE Judges Erasmo Pinilla, Eduardo Valdes Escoffery and Heriberto Araúz.

According to the judges, they have decided to accept the “exhortation” to make the announcement contained in an April 14 letter from the director of the National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information (Antai).
 The first step they took was to accept the resignations “of officials who are relatives of judges within the relationship established by the Code of Ethics for Public Officials of the Central Government, namely the third degree of consanguinity and second degree”.
The second was to incorporate, into the Code of Ethics and Rules of the Electoral Tribunal, the nepotism policy for Public Officials of the Central Government and Law 9 of 1994, governing administrative careers.
As a third step, it was determined that in the case of officials who, are within the prohibited relationship and work in the same administrative unit, one of the two will be relocated.
“The judges of the Electoral Tribunal will continue to accept all the calls they receive to improve public administration, without prejudice to their constitutional and legal autonomy and independence,” the statement said
Political observers and commentators were quick off the mark to condemn TE president Erasmo Pinilla who has been a judge for two decades, and to suggest that his resignation should  follow that of his relatives.

Winds  of change indeed as similar nepotism cases in the past have been swept under the carpet and in the previus administration family members were not only close to jobs, but recpients of direct contracts from the government.