Governors, officials and legislators of the Frente de Todos (FdT) supported this Wednesday the request for impeachment of the head of the Supreme Court of Justice, Horacio Rosattiand other members of the highest court promoted by President Alberto Fernández together with provincial leaders, considering that there are “enough elements to advance” in this process.
After the meeting that the head of state held on Tuesday with provincial leaders in the Government House, where they signed the initiative, the governor of La Rioja, Ricardo Quintela, remarked that “the chats between (Rosatti’s close collaborator) Silvio Robles and the Buenos Aires Minister of Justice and Security are scandalousMarcelo D’Alessandro”who yesterday requested a license to prepare his defense in this case.
In those conversations, Robles suggested to D’Alessandro strategies that the Buenos Aires government should use in the conflict with the Nation over co-participating funds.
Listing another argument, the governor of La Rioja considered that the ruling in favor of the city of Buenos Aires in the conflict with the Nation over co-participating funds constituted “an attack against federalism”, so there are “enough elements to move forward” .
For his part, the governor of Tierra del Fuego, Gustavo Melellarecalled that the leader of the Civic Coalition, Elisa Carrió, denounced members of the Supreme Court on other occasions and asked the former national deputy “not to have moral amnesia.”
Carrió made different presentations of impeachment to the former president of the Court and current member of the court, Ricardo Lorenzetti, during the last government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and also in the presidency of Mauricio Macri; however, none of these initiatives prospered in Congress.
Melella considered that “the Court and Rosatti have an addiction to Together for Change.”
“If Rosatti wants to do politics, let him be a candidate. Today we have a scandalous Court with a president who cannot continue as if nothing had happened,” he pointed out about the conversations that were leaked and published by different media.
Likewise, Melella maintained that in the meeting on Tuesday between the head of state and governors “some did not join out of fear”, but considered that the royal power “if it wants, they will take them with them anyway.”
The communiqué released on Tuesday by the Presidency jointly promotes the political trial of the four members of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, under the accusation of “poor performance of their functions” and “manifest partiality” when issuing rulings.
This statement bears the signature of the governors Axel Kicillof (Buenos Aires); Raúl Jalil (Catamarca); Jorge Capitanich (Chaco); Mariano Arcioni (Chubut); Gustavo Bordet (Between Rivers); Gildo Insfrán (Formosa); Sergio Ziliotto (La Pampa); Ricardo Quintela (La Rioja); Alicia Kirchner (Santa Cruz); Gerardo Zamora (Santiago del Estero); Gustavo Melella (Tierra del Fuego), and Osvaldo Jaldo (Tucumán).
The support of the official deputies
While, the national deputy and former governor of San Juan, José Luis Giojaasserted that the governors who support the trial of the Court “defend the resources of their provinces” and warned that those who did not “put other interests ahead of those of their people.”
In turn, in a document the lieutenant governors Rubén Dusso (Catamarca), Florencia López (La Rioja), Carlos Silva Neder (Santiago del Estero), Sergio Mansilla (Tucumán), Analía Rach Quiroga (Chaco) and Eber Solís (Formosa) supported the consensual initiative and indicated that the “poor performance” of the members of the Court is based on the “flagrant disobservance of the National Constitution in which the highest court has incurred”.
For the general secretary of the Central de Trabajadores de Argentina (CTA) and national deputy, Hugo Yasky (FdT), “it is a very important fact that the President has taken the determination to initiate this political trial, beyond what the treatment brings afterwards”.
“There are many things that citizens have to know and this process will facilitate it. There is a justice apparatus in collusion and permanent subordination with the royal power,” denounced Yasky, who criticized: “Rosatti is more than president of the Court a leader of the opposition”.
The trade unionist also considered that the commemoration for March 24 will serve to make this judicial process visible and will summon thousands of citizens.
For his part, The head of the Political Judgment Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, Carolina Gaillard, assured that the process requested by the president to the members of the Court will be carried out “with great seriousness and transparency.”
The legislator specified that “there is no record of a political trial of all the members of the Court” and assured that the process will be carried out “in the best way with great seriousness and transparency in the face of society.”
The deputy explained that there is still no scheduled meeting date for the commission and that it remains to wait “for the project to enter and the Decree (of the Executive Power) to convene the extraordinary sessions because Congress is in recess.”
“I would think that this week the decree will be signed to convene extraordinary meetings. Once that happens, we will be able to convene the commission,” he said.
Likewise, Gaillard explained that the commission will deal with the project and “rules by a simple majority if the investigation is opened.”
“To vote on the opinion and start the session, a quorum in the commission is not necessary. Of the 31 members, 16 are needed, only a simple majority and with the votes of the Frente de Todos is enough to move forward”he pointed.
In this case, the evidentiary stage begins, where “documentary evidence, testimonials, visual inspections” and other evidence are presented.
“The defendant is summoned with all the evidence to inform him of his right to defense. There the accusatory opinion of the origin or not of the accusation is made and it is signed with a simple majority,” he added.
Along these lines, he explained that the project then goes to the Chamber of Deputies, where “two-thirds of those present are required to advance the accusation”, which, if approved, is sent to the Senate, “where it is judge” the accused.
