12 days before the elections, a court accepts appeal for ‘complete’ judicial

12 days before the partial judicial elections are held, the First Constitutional Chamber of La Paz, admitted a popular action demanding that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), carry out the electoral process completely throughout the country and not partial elections.

“It is a Popular Action that was presented by lawyer Jamil Apaza Llanos, “seeking that these judicial elections are total, complete and complete,” The member of the TSE, Tahuichi Tahiuichi, informed EL DEBER.

In parallel, in the city of Trinidad, Beni, a group of Benian lawyers, including candidates for the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) and the Plurinational Constitutional Court (TCP), yesterday installed a hunger strike at the doors of the Departmental Court of Justice (TDJ) of that department.

The Benian lawyers denounce that the constitutional ruling of the TCP that declares void the call in Beni, Pando, Santa Cruz, Cochabamba and Tarija for the TCP, “discriminates” against applicants from those departments and violates the constitutional rights of candidates and voters.

It is known that the hearing in which this Popular Action, admitted by the First Constitutional Chamber of La Paz, will be resolved this Friday, December 6, when a judge will determine whether the judicial ones should be carried out in the departments vetoed by two TCP magistrates.

Among the points of this action, it is requested that the principle of estoppel be respected, that any ruling, judicial or administrative constitutional sentence that threatens the integrity of the electoral process with respect to the principles of the rule of law and Bolivian laws.

It is known that this is the second judicial appeal that has been presented in demand that the judicial proceedings be carried out in full, as established by rule 1549“Transitional law for the 2024 judicial elections.”

The first was a Compliance Action that was presented in a constitutional court in El Alto, whose ruling ordered that the judicial elections be held completely and respect the principle of estoppel. However, the TCP to date has not considered this Compliance Action, It only processed an appeal presented by Hugo Vargas Palenquea disqualified applicant from Beni.

What will the TSE do if it is granted? the protection in this Popular Action and the judge orders complete judicial proceedings?EL DEBER asked the member Tahuichi and the authority responded:

“The constitutional chambers and the Constitutional Court put us in a terrible predicament when we have already printed the electoral ballots. At this point they put the entire electoral process at risk. Unfortunately, the constitutional chambers are not respecting the principle of estoppel,” Tahuichi stated.

In recent weeks, after the TCP ruling ordering electoral members to hold partial judicial elections, in an unprecedented manner, the TSE adjusted its tasks to hold partial elections, from electoral propaganda to inform voters who the candidates are, to the number of ballots that were printed, without taking into account the candidates where the call was declared void.

“We are in the final stretch of this process. We have already printed approximately 16 million ballots, we have drawn more than 230 thousand jurors, we have hired eight thousand notaries. They have already finished printing the 35 thousand minutes and we are finishing packing the electoral suitcases“said the electoral authority.

To date, the TSE has executed 110 million bolivianos of the budget allocated for these elections, which are 183 million bolivianos, money disbursed by the General Treasury of the Nation.

He Sunday, December 15, partial judicial elections will be held in Bolivia.

Only in La Paz, Oruro, Potosí and Chuquisaca, will there be complete judicial proceedings. In Beni and Pando, there will only be one ballot with the candidates for the Agro-Environmental Court and the Judicial Council. In Santa Cruz, Cochabamba and Tarija, they will only be able to vote for candidates to the Judicial Council, Agro-Environmental Court and the Supreme Court of Justice.