The now ex-magistrate of the Constitutional Court Marianella Ledesma ruled in favor of new general elections, but with a political reform. She said that if President Pedro Castillo remains in office it is because the political class, represented in Congress, wants him to stay.
He has said that the swearing-in of the new TC -of five of the six newly elected members- is null because it was done without the presence of the outgoing plenary. What would be correct? Repeat the ceremony?
It is something irregular and not at all elegant that President Ferrero took as an option. He had to give himself everything with transparency. I don’t know why he had to have reached these levels of secrecy, surprise factor. It generates a distaste, a discomfort.
Do you fear a more conservative turn in the TC?
Ideally, an institution as representative as the TC would have had a more diverse composition, with a plurality of voices, as had been the case to date. But that has been the result of the election and that is how it will be assumed.
Is the new plenary session more conservative?
I do not know in detail the profile of the magistrates. What I know is from journalistic information and, in view of this, I say that more plurality would have been interesting.
He does not know the profile of the magistrates, but he will have closely followed the election process. Did you find it transparent?
Transparency helps improve citizen control, especially when public office is to be held. And it helps correct mistakes. To the extent that it would have been more transparent, suddenly greater legitimacy would have been built, but in the end they are powers of Congress and on that issue I have no further questioning.
Was it transparent or not?
There are observations from the Comptroller’s Office, and others that, instead of elevating the process, cast doubt on the way the appointments were made.
A sector that we could define as very conservative points out that the TC was full of caviar, you included. What does he respond to that?
What happens is that in a country there are different perspectives, progressive visions, of change, conservatives. That is not bad. The bad thing is to think that there only has to be a totalitarian-conservative thought and that whoever is not in its logic is excluded. That’s wicked. Rather, the ideal is that there are different voices and thoughts and that they are represented. That is the logic of a representative democracy. Rather, totalitarian logic seeks a single thought and whoever is not in it is the enemy. These societies are the most disastrous and detrimental to the development of people.
What does your passage through the TC leave you?
It makes me satisfied to have been the mole in all that conservative thinking that the TC has handled. Even though I have been a minority or solitary voice, I have laid down ideas that future generations will know how to appraise. I am leaving with clean hands as a magistrate, empowering the rights of minorities, of women, of peasant communities on the issues of prior consultation, demanding equal payment of taxes by all. There are many things that, at least in my singular vows, I pointed out. They will not have been successful, they will not have had the number…
Sufficient accessions.
At least the idea is left. And as president, I laid the groundwork for a modern, digital TC.
On issues of gender equality, the TC is still in deficit. Was it a problem for you to be the only woman in a basically male plenary session?
No, nothing daunted me, on the contrary, being a woman empowered me more. And beyond a masculine world, I would say a conservative world. Because they could have been men, but with a more renewed and modern look at today’s world. Moreover, there may be women with a conservative logic. In my view, the world is constantly changing and it is necessary to respond to these needs.
How do you see the country?
I see a country in political debacle, with right and left populism to sell smoke, in which fundamental issues such as education, health, economic reactivation are not being addressed. Great distractions are used to avoid focusing on where a good government should look. And I see a fairly polarized country.
And what do you think of President Castillo?
He is a person who is not up to being an excellent leader of the resources entrusted to his administration. I only see mere speeches and fallacies, pretending that with words changes will come and needs will be met. The truth is, it is a great disenchantment and I hope that it can soon be overcome by constitutional mechanisms. Something that does not depend on the Castle itself. You have to look at the whole dimension of it to the political class. Castillo is there simply because the political class wants to keep him there. And that generates unpleasantness, a representative democracy in which citizens do not feel represented by this political class.
When he says that the political class wants to keep Castillo, he is referring to Congress.
Of course yes. There are constitutional paths, what do not exist are neither votes nor political will. The status quo is to be maintained as it is.
Would you bet on new general elections?
Definitely yes. That it be renewed, but with previous political reforms, not on the same thing. What reforms? Bicamerality, with the same 130 congressmen; with re-election of authorities by popular vote; with renewal of Congress by halves.
What do you think of Congress, of Maricarmen Alva?
I have seen with great discomfort an unconstitutional attitude on the part of the president of Congress by not allowing journalists to enter. The exercise of freedom of the press must be preserved so that social control can be carried out in Congress. I see with astonishment that they are prohibited from entering the media.
What are you going to do now?
For the first time I am going to stop exercising public office and dedicate myself to teaching. I teach at San Marcos, Catholic and other universities.
Are you interested in politics?
I have never been in the political race. I have served my country from the State. I have political ideas, obviously.
I mean if you are interested in a political career.
I don’t rule it out, but it’s not something that I’m passionate about or interested in right now. ❖
