The process of electing the Ombudsman is halfway through, but has already shown signs of manipulation and direction to favor a candidate who is close to the Movement for Socialism and who also represents the department of La Paz.
Not another thing means that of the 72 approved applicants, most have trajectories or backgrounds of closeness to the government party and 43 of them belong to La Paz. On the contrary, only one is from Santa Cruz, since more than a dozen other candidates from this region were disqualified.
The country of centralism has not changed one iota and every time the State has the opportunity to highlight this concept of accumulation of the administration of power in La Paz, the central government does not hesitate to do so, as in this case.
The qualifying commission of the Legislative Assembly separated 126 candidates who presented their applications, and did so with various arguments that refer to alleged non-compliance with requirements. In some cases, the lack of signature on the resume was even argued as a cause for disqualification, despite the fact that the affected party demonstrated that the document does bear his signature.
Interestingly, the current ombudsman was authorized, despite the fact that the law says that there is no re-election in that position. She arrived there as an interim to replace David Tezanos Pinto who was removed from the functions, but remains for more than three years, which would have to be considered as a reason for her disqualification.
The fact is that Mrs. Nadia Cruz has been very useful and functional to the administrations of Evo Morales and Luis Arce, and at the same time very critical during the administration of President Jeanine Áñez, conditions that could be considered “meritorious” from the point of view of view of the ruling party to continue in office.
Perhaps that is the reason for his qualification and probably for his next election, as has been speculated. In this regard, the opposition Citizen Community has filed a challenge against Cruz’s candidacy because it considers it unconstitutional and illegal.
According to the head of the Citizen Community bench, lawyer Carlos Alarcón, the Constitution and the law that prevent the re-election of the post make no distinction between the performance of the incumbent or the interim, but in all cases simply refers to the performance of the position of Ombudsman.
In contrast, the commission disqualified the representative candidate of the Committee for the Defense of Democracy (Conade), Manuel Morales, who filed a challenge against the mixed Constitutional Commission that removed him from the race because his resume was allegedly not signed. The candidate showed the media proof that the documentation bore his signature.
With an Ombudsman close to the government, the institution completely loses its reason for being. The function of the position consists precisely in defending the rights of citizens against the abuses of the State and its hundreds of institutions. If someone has any doubts about the nature of the position, simply remind them that the name of the institution is “Ombudsman” and not “Ombudsman of the Government”.
