President Alberto Fernandez announced this Sunday that he will promote, together with the governors, a political trial of the head of the Supreme Court, Horace Rosatti“so that his conduct in the performance of his duties may be investigated”, due to the issuance of a precautionary measure in favor of the City of Buenos Aires regarding funds for that district.
The president added in a letter released by the Casa Rosada that “tWe will also require that the conduct of the remaining members of the highest court be investigated.”
The conflict is raised by the ruling in which the Supreme Court of Justice ordered the national government to pay the city of Buenos Aires 2.95% of the mass of co-participating taxesgiving rise to the claim that the administration led by Horacio Rodríguez Larreta had initiated.
In his letter, Fernández asserted that “upon assuming my mandate I swore to observe and have the Constitutional Law observed as far as it depends on me”
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After the scandal of the leaked chats, the Government will request the impeachment of the Supreme Court.
“There was an advance of the Court on other powers”
? Alberto Fernández from Brazil
? https://t.co/9fxDe5Kt8s pic.twitter.com/4ZKgPXBOJk
—C5N (@C5N) January 1, 2023
Thus, he stated: “I must prevent the Council of the Magistracy from continuing to be manipulated with unusual jurisprudential interpretations that allow the Judiciary to meddle in the decisions of the National Congress.”
And he maintained that it is his duty to “promote actions when the federal system is put into crisis through an unnecessary precautionary measure and the improper proposal of an autonomous city.”
In addition, Fernández stated that in recent months there has been “an inadmissible advance of the Judiciary of the Nation on the other powers of Argentina” and assured “various publications that have never been contradicted, have exposed what I have been warning for a long time: the scandalous link between part of politics and Justice”.
“The dialogues between judicial officials and opposition politicians in which decisions are anticipated and political foundations are recommended to be used when judicially deciding cases with undoubted institutional significance, have been impudently exposed to the general astonishment.”
Then, in an interview with C5N in Brazil, Fernández expressed his “concern about what has happened in recent months, since there was a permanent advance of the Supreme Court over the other powers of the Argentine Republic and theThe republic requires three independent powers“.
congratulations president @lulaoficial! Latin America united and fought. The dream came true.
I wish you the best for this management, the future will be one of deep brotherhood. With a more just, free and equitable look, we will achieve the true development of our peoples. pic.twitter.com/J8DYHDbFEm
– Alberto Fernandez (@alferdez) January 1, 2023
“What the Court did with the co-participation issue of the city of Buenos Aires becomes an act of interference” of justice in the other powers, he considered.
And he pointed to Rosatti: “In particular its president, who has the particularity of being president of the Council of the Magistracy, a consequence of the fact that declared the unconstitutionality of a law with more than 16 years of validity that had been approved by Congress“.
“By virtue of that, he proclaimed himself president of the Council of the Magistracy,” he warned.
Fernandez added that “One has seen very obscene things in the eyes of the public and in the rule of law; what we saw in Lago Escondido was terrible. Nobody said ‘we didn’t travel, they didn’t pay me for the trip'”alluding to trip of judges, prosecutors, Buenos Aires officials and media businessmen to that Patagonian area.
We are starting a new year. We left behind another one that brought us joy but also imposed the demands of a pandemic that does not end and a war that conditions us, putting the development we so badly need into crisis. pic.twitter.com/rsHKFc2BvI
– Alberto Fernandez (@alferdez) January 1, 2023
“This seems very worrying to me: we see judges, prosecutors, with an absolutely promiscuous relationship with businessmen, they all agree on a logic, which is a stigmatized judicial logic, and being so submissive to the singularities of others,” he added.
He also said that he personally made the decision to impeach Rosatti. “It is something that I am absolutely convinced of, in which I have always believed; I proposed that justice review itself and I hoped that it would do something, but obviously it does not and we have reached an extreme situation. It is a decision that I made “, he asserted.
Last week there were reports of alleged chats between the Minister of Justice and Security of the City of Buenos Aires, Marcelo D’Alessandroand the general director of the Supreme Court, Silvio Robleswhere they discuss the co-participation ruling and the integration of the Judicial Council, among other issues.
Senators and Deputies of the FdT denounced “the biggest judicial scandal” of democracy https://t.co/NYa6pc8oW8
– Telam Agency (@AgenciaTelam) December 30, 2022
About these chats, the governor of Santiago del Estero, Gerardo Zamoraexpressed that “It cannot be that Rosatti continues in Court. It cannot continue until this is resolved. I do not know if the word is obscene or pornographic. This is an unprecedented scandal and it is very serious for the entire country.”
The governor had considered that the chats “show the handling of court rulings and collusion” between part of the Judiciary and officials of Together for Change (JxC).
“It is not up to me to tell Rosatti to resign. He would already have to be explaining to society and all the powers of the State what is happening,” said Zamora.
Meanwhile, the Buenos Aires governor Axel Kicillof had held that Rosatti “cannot continue for another minute in charge of this issue after this chat”, in reference to the cause for co-participation.
In the published letter, Fernández announced that he ordered the Minister of Justice, Martín Soria, to “promote the pertinent criminal actions to investigate the alleged acts of corruption that would involve officials from the city of Buenos Aires with business contractors from that state. autonomous”.
“I must prevent the Council of the Magistracy from continuing to be manipulated with unusual jurisprudential interpretations that allow the Judiciary to meddle in the decisions of the National Congress.”Alberto Fernandez
Among the leaked chats, there is also a conversation between D’Alessandro and businessman Marcelo Violante, who managed the City’s towing and hauling service.
The request to prosecute Rosatti must be presented in the Chamber of Deputies, which will then be analyzed by the Impeachment Committee, headed by the legislator of the Frente de Todos (FdT) Carolina Gaillard, and then, if it has an opinion, the accusation must be approved with two-thirds in the session hall.
Until now, the requests for impeachment have not been opened to investigations because neither the FdT nor the JxC manage to reach two thirds of the members present in the session due to the extreme parity that exists in the Chamber of Deputies.
The decision of the Court of December 21, in which it ordered that the national Government pay the city of Buenos Aires 2.95% of the mass of co-participating taxes, was questioned from the National Executive Branch as well as by 18 provincial leaders.
After that ruling, the next day, Fernández held a meeting with 14 governors, who together rejected the resolution of the highest court.
On that occasion, the governor of Formosa, Gildo Insfran had pointed out: “Today an unfair ruling came out that shatters federalism and the head of the City of Buenos Aires (Horacio Rodríguez Larreta) comes out saying that it is a historic ruling for Argentina, a lie.”
Meanwhile, the governor of La Rioja, Ricardo Quintelahad pointed out that “The ruling of the Supreme Court in favor of CABA in the claim for co-participation goes against federalism and is unconstitutional, since the Federal Capital is not a province.”
Along the same lines, the governor of Catamarca, Raul Jalilhad expressed that “the ruling of the CSJN on the return of funds to CABA represents a blow to federalism.”
“The governors were not listened to and the powers of the National Congress were ignored, in a clear conflict of powers. Federalism is the pillar of this Nation,” he added.
In this sense, Fernández affirmed in the released statement that in recent months there has been “an inadmissible advance of the Nation’s Judicial Power over the other powers of Argentina” and assured that “various publications, never contradicted, have exposed what that I have been warning for a long time: the scandalous link between part of politics and Justice”.
