No civil input into choosing judges – presidency
THE HOPES of civil society that there would be citizen input into the selection of new judges for the Supreme Court were dashed on Thursday, February 1 with an announcement that The Cabinet Council would choose the replacements of the magistrates Oydén Ortega and Jerónimo Mejía, without a citizen participation mechanism.
“The president [Juan Carlos Varela] already said yesterday that he was going to use his constitutional power, “said Minister of the Presidency, Álvaro Alemán on Thursday, February 1.
A day earlier, at a public event in Darién, asked about a call for public consultation, Varela said that there was no time “for that”.
The Ortega and Mejía’s 10-year terms expired last December, but they have been obliged to remain in office until their replacements arrive.
Two earlier candidates appointed by the Cabinet – the anti-corruption prosecutor Zuleyka Moore and the specialist lawyer in banking law, Ana Lucrecia Tovar de Zarak- were not ratified by the National Assembly.
