The Chamber of Deputies will deal today, from 2:00 p.m., with the draft resolution that formulates accusations against the Attorney General of the State, Sandra Quiñónez, for the purpose of establishing the impeachment trial. A sector of the promoters denounces that there are deputies who announce that they will vote in favor, but at the same time, they are forcing the file.
On July 24, the Chamber of Deputies held the first extraordinary session where they discussed the political trial. However, due to the lack of votes, the sessions were repeatedly postponed. The first week was postponed three times. Last week, it was postponed twice. It is said, unofficially, that only the vote of the liberal deputy María de la Nieve López would be missing. In addition, there are still two points of the accusatory libel to be debated; point 10 which is “Impunity and corruption in mayors and governments”, while point 11 refers to “other inactions”.
BUZARCHIS
Antonio Buzarquis, deputy for the PLRA, reported that the Lower House is divided between those who want to carry out the trial and those who want to send it to the archives. He also announced that from the multibancada they have decided to vote only when they have the numbers. The position of Buzarquis and the other legislators of the multibancada is to wait for a report that would come from Gafilat in the month of September, which talks about the postponement of the Public Ministry in the subject of prevention of money laundering. “When Gafilat studies the case of Paraguay, our country scrapes by, with grade two, because some State institutions did their job, not the Public Ministry,” he explained.
He denounced that there is a group of parliamentarians who are in a hurry to vote, including some “false positives.” “There are legislators who say they are going to vote in favor of the trial but they want it to be archived and sent to the archive to achieve impunity,” he concluded. Hugo Ramírez, national deputy for the ANR (pro-government party), affirmed on his part that there is a favorable environment to achieve the removal of Quiñónez. “People must understand what it means that an institution had the elements to stop a business model that does a lot of damage to the country and is attentive to the legal and physical security of people,” he commented.
Sandra Quiñónez was elected attorney general in March 2018. Her mandate will expire next March (she has eight months left). If the judgment is approved in Deputies (53 votes are needed from among 80 legislators), it goes to the Senate where 30 votes (of 45) are needed.
