President Gabriel Boric finally handed over his candidate for National Prosecutor, and it was not a decision without controversy. Finally, it will be Marta Herrera who must appear before the Senate next week, amid speculation about the deployment of an alleged government strategy to leave the responsibility for the development of a new quina in the hands of the Supreme Court, due to legitimate doubts. that produces the nomination of a person who, on the previous day, did not achieve a consensus of any kind.
Opposition senators have been speculating since last November that the Executive would propose Herrera to force the Supreme Court to send a new quina when her nomination was rejected, which was later ruled out by the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá. Finally, President Gabriel Boric elected José Morales, who obtained 31 of the 33 votes he needed, causing an unprecedented defeat for a government since the installation of the Criminal Procedure Reform. This situation lasted until this Wednesday afternoon, through the sending of a new name to the Senate, while the eventual support that each application would have was being probed. Next Monday, meanwhile, the Constitution, Legislation and Justice Commission of the Senate will review the official letter sent by the Executive.
In this regard, the president of said instance, Senator Matías Walker, announced that “we will summon the Constitution Commission on Monday, here in Valparaíso, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., since on Monday afternoon the plenary session of the Upper House, in order to ratify the appointment. I think the most important thing about this appearance is to ask candidate Marta Herrera what her plan is to deal with the increase in crime that we are seeing in the country, with the violence associated with drug trafficking, organized crime, an increase in crimes such as homicides and kidnappings”.
From the Government, who is indicated as one of the main promoters of the nomination of Herrera, the Minister of the Segpres, Ana Lya Uriarte, pointed out that “the President of the Republic has made a decision based on the information that was in its power, of course, all those that the Supreme Court had before it, and the presentation that Marta Herrera herself made before the Supreme Court, all of which show a new vision and a new perspective in the management of the Prosecutor’s Office National, which certainly requires reinforcement, in order to combat organized crime, drug trafficking, illicit association and many other crimes that are part of what citizens claim as their main interest”.
It is worth mentioning that sources familiar with the process assure that Herrera’s surprise nomination responded to a strategy to test “if it passes” and, if not, have the possibility of endorsing political responsibility to the Supreme Court, from where they should develop a new machine. To understand this, they note that the Government did not, in effect, carry out any consultation work on said name within the Constitution, Legislation and Justice Commission of the Senate. With this background as data, the nomination is understood by some as a “third flag operation”, one in which the Government presents a name knowing that it will not pass, with the purpose of repeating the process. In such circumstances, article 15 of the Supreme Court could be applied –referring to the circumstances–, which would enable the generation of a different quina or, well, to complete this, as the names fall, with other fillers. .
In this regard, a leader of the ruling party clarified that for La Moneda the ideal candidate was Nayalet Mansilla, but assuming that there were very few possibilities of support in the Upper House, they finally decided to support Herrera. They admit that there are some critical voices from some pro-government leaders due to the fact that the Government did not worry about the National Prosecutor issue before, and for having sought jurists before the Supreme Court vote. “They did not assess the importance,” they say, also considering the difficult relationship and coordination with the Public Ministry under the mandate of Jorge Abbott.
In this sense, the senator and president of the Democratic Revolution (DR), Juan Ignacio Latorre, said that “it would be a very bad sign if the Senate once again rejected the name proposed by the President of the Republic, that there are roosters of power here, or rather personal ambitions or egos on the part of some senators or benches that reject the name, because they do not harm the Government but rather the institution. The Senate would look very bad. The National Prosecutor’s Office needs leadership for the next eight years,” he said.
Other sources from the ruling party, however, maintain that a new setback will once again be the responsibility of the Segpres minister, by supporting names that do not generate consensus and, what is worse, putting President Gabriel Boric at risk once again, who is who pays the costs of failed nominations.
In relation to this, pro-government sources warn that the votes would be divided, and there would be some key ones in the Constitution Commission, such as those of senators Araya (PPD) and De Urresti (PS), who would be against Herrera.
On the opposition side, the situation appears to be even more complex. The name of Marta Herrera from the beginning generated rejection in a good part of said sector, and the surprise nomination this afternoon -according to sources from the Senate- generated more resistance, since added to the lack of political support for that name, they believe that the Government once again demonstrated improvisation in such an important appointment. One of these voices was that of Senator Manuel José Ossandón, who pointed out in this regard: “It seems to me that she demonstrates the disorder that the Government has and the lack of leadership.”
