Could there be a sanction for Gertz Manero?
The authority in charge of sanctioning public servants in case of not presenting their statement, or forcing them to do so, is the Civil Service.
In the case of Gertz Manero, what is known is that he complied in 2019, before assuming ownership of the FGR, with the presentation of the patrimonial, fiscal and interest declaration before the SFP, which is the obligation established by law. , although it is unknown if the information is complete.
In any case, the specialists rule out that there may be a sanction against the attorney general. In any case, they point out, a call would be made to publicize their information, but this would correspond to the Coordinating Committee of the SNA.
“The possible sanction or the mechanism to force the prosecutor to make his entire statement public is not clear, given that his responsibility before the Public Function (such as PGR) is (fulfilled). What is also not clear is whether he presented it in full, and If this is not the case, the same secretariat must set a deadline of a few days for the prosecutor to present it,” says Fernanda Avendaño.
Eduardo Bohórquez adds that, in this case, the authority that could fail to comply with the obligation to present and publish the statement of assets and interests is the internal control body of the FGR itself, and this would incur a breach of the General Law. of Administrative Responsibilities.
“This will surely be a subject to investigate in the event of a possible change of command in the attorney general’s office. It gives the impression that the attorney general considers that there is a legal regime for the rest of the public servants and another for his case. This goes against the idea reiterated by this administration: no one can be above the law,” he says.
Janet Oropeza clarifies that, although citizens do not know the statement of assets and interests of the attorney general, it does not mean that there are no actors who can review it. For example, the National Anticorruption System itself.
“His statement to many instances of control and inspection is known. In the public scrutiny there are doubts that Gertz Manero is hiding a possible illicit enrichment and that is why he is not publicizing his assets, but there are actors who do have access to his statements and they can investigate,” adds the Fundar researcher.
Both Avendaño and Oropeza consider that, regardless of the legality or the flaws in the confidentiality of the information, the fact that the assets of the Attorney General of the Republic are not public sends a negative message about transparency, good practices and the fight anti-corruption.
Just because it’s legal (the fact that you don’t advertise your goods) doesn’t mean it’s okay. It is not a good practice.
Janet Oropeza
