The Constitution and Code Committee of the Senate has announced that it will archive the impeachment against the mayor of Montevideo, Caroline Cosseso this will remain without effect and it will not even reach the legislative agenda. The Constitution and Legislation Commission of the Senate, chaired by the nationalist legislator Graciela Bianchi, had approved on March 21 by a vote of 5 to 9 to begin the impeachment trial against Mayor Cosse. Meanwhile, the latter is emerging as a potential presidential candidate for the Broad Front.
Cosse herself has made reference to the issue in recent hours, stating that she hopes that, “for the good of our democracy, for the good use of the instruments and for the respect of the Constitution”, the Constitution Commission recommends the file of the impeachment trial, since no constitutional violation has been committed.
The facts and the novel
The constitutional remedy was used by the opposition councillors, who considered that the community chief did not respond to requests for public information or go to the Departmental Board when summoned.
The request for impeachment was described as excessive by leaders of the Broad Front and, furthermore, it would not have the votes of the pro-government legislators, since special majorities are required to remove a mayor.
In reality, when the impeachment was called, the Montevideo City Hall answered 1,601 questions in 459 requests for reports from the Montevideo Departmental Board.
In 2021 alone, a total of 234 requests for reports were sent to the IM, which were fully answered, according to the same capital administration.
For the Broad Front, the request for impeachment was “excessive”and had manifested, from the outset, against, that is to say that as a block they would vote against it if it reached Parliament.
