Court Nominees Cynical Setback
THE DESIGNATIONS of the anti-corruption prosecutor Zuleyka Moore and the specialist in banking and finance, Ana Lucrecia Tovar de Zara, as magistrates of the Supreme Court, constitute a “cynical setback in terms of democratic strengthening” and an equally cynical setback in terms of institutionality ” said the National Assembly’s only independent deputy Ana Matilde Gómez on Tuesday December 26.
Speaking on TeleMetro of the appointment of Moore, the former Attorney General said that it was not recognition of her work ” [In the Odebrechr bribery scandal] on the contrary, it is completely nullified”. According to the deputy, “She [Moore] leaves the Public Ministry (MP) at the moment that more knowledge is needed from the Odebrecht case. “Taking her out of there is to take out that knowledge and you will not be able to use it in the Court, ” Gomez stressed that, should she Moore be endorsed as the new Justice of the Court she “is not going to to be able to pronounce herself because she will declare herself impeded.
Gómez said, this does not mean that the prosecutor is not an honest person and committed to work, as she knows from when she was her subordinate when She held the post of Attorney General. Gomez said that if President Juan Carlos Varela wants to fight corruption then why not increases wages to anti-corruption prosecutors and provide more protection.
Regarding of Tovar de Zarak, Gómez said that there are substantive circumstances and form that do not allow her to endorse the appointment in the Court.
When on Tuesday the Assembly Credentials Commission held its first meeting on these designations, it was well known That she is the wife of the vice minister of Economy, Ivan Zarak. He reported his resignation on Thursday, December 14, one day before the Extraordinary Cabinet Council approved the two designations for the Supreme Court; his resignation will be effective Friday, December 29.
“I would like to know if, in spite of everything that is happening in the Assembly both are still willing, to be magistrates of the Court, ” said Gomez.