In 2014, a campaign was launched to make the competitions linked to the election of Ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice and other positions such as those currently vacant for members of the Superior Court of Electoral Justice more transparent. It was possible, despite the doubts about the institutions, that many more people trust the system and present themselves to take the exam, to expose themselves to oral dissertations with questions and cross-examinations, as well as to be evaluated on general aspects that do not necessarily have to be justified, rather than with the perception of those who give the points on the applicants.
Like much of what happens in these institutions, since there is no evidence, sometimes journalism must expose what is heard in corridors, especially when the same data comes from different sources. Do you remember the red inmates Argaña versus Wasmosy? Decades later, the current senator of the Republic, Juan Carlos Galaverna, would repent of the fact and would confirm in a local media that this victory was achieved through fraud, in which he was a participant. That was said from the beginning, but it was impossible to verify it until said confession.
Today these are the elements that question the process for electing new members of the TSJE:
1. The entry into the contest of politicians who even resigned from their elective positions, long before the start of the process around the TSJE vacancies. Did they already have a name closed and the whole process was a farce?
2. The exam contained several points that were not included in the syllabus given to the applicants. The striking thing was that in the final result few obtained exams with very high scores. Did they access the real issues? Was there an interference in order to narrow the margins and achieve that those previously chosen can arrive?
3. None of the claims related to the topics of the exams were taken into account, no points were given to any participant who manifested in time the details of topics that were not present in the original agenda.
4. None of the reconsiderations of points that are related to book publications, academic articles, or titles such as master’s degrees or doctorates were taken into account.
5. In the final evaluation where members can put the score at their personal discretion, it stands out how some participants who do not have experience in electoral matters could receive high points while others received a lower score.
6. There is talk of a candidate who was prepared years ago, who has business ties with a high-ranking figure in the institution.
7. For months it has been heard that the database that has all the information on how voting has been going on in the last elections, including personal data of the voters, is already in the hands of a company that hopes to achieve an advantage in the elections. next elections advising with this computer base.
8. A member of the CM publicly called for impeachment of other members, expressing his disagreement with some positions that put the entire process at risk.
9. From the beginning of the process, political interference was the order of the day, far beyond the agreed quotas.
For these reasons, the entire democratic system is put at risk when the institutions that must protect the sacred vote enter a tsunami of questioning.
This democratic system, which with its virtues and defects has allowed Paraguay to enjoy a certain macroeconomic stability, even higher than that of the countries of the region, will be seriously affected if clear measures are not taken to protect institutions and democracy.
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The entrance The Council of the Judiciary shows its worst face was first published in The Independent.
