Bolaños says that the conclusion of the Sánchez-Feijóo meeting is to make a "last attempt" to unblock the CGPJ

It does not clarify whether the Government is open to modifying the system for electing the members of the governing body of the judges

The Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, assured today that the main conclusion of today's meeting between the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the leader of the opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, is to make a "last attempt" to unblock the renewal the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) and the Constitutional Court (TC).

"It has been agreed to give one last attempt at negotiation to find a quick solution to the blockade and thus overcome the deep crisis of the CPGJ and the TC" explained Bolaños.

To do this, he said, the President of the Government has appointed the Minister of the Presidency as an interlocutor and Feijóo has done the same with the PP's Deputy Secretary for Institutions, Esteban González Pons. "We are now trying to reach a quick agreement" to unblock a "very serious situation that has lasted more than four years," Bolaños pointed out.

In this regard, he indicated that the meeting lasted around three hours and in the second half of it González Pons and himself joined.

At another point in his speech, the minister specified that they will begin to negotiate "seriously" and "immediately". But he has not clarified what the model for the aforementioned renewal will be, whether the one proposed by the Government, which is the one in force, or the one proposed by the Popular Party, which proposes leaving the election in the hands of the judges.

When questioned about the system for electing the members, if they have addressed this matter and if it is the point that has prevented the renewal from being undertaken today, after almost four years of blockade, Bolaños has replied that the "different positions" are known. In this regard.

He then indicated that, in his opinion, the fact that it is an issue "that the PP raises publicly", means that "they will maintain that position without any doubt" and that therefore it is a question that should be asked to the PP.

NO DEADLINE HAS BEEN SET

This very morning, before the start of the meeting, Feijóo warned Sánchez that he will not accept a simple "change of cards" to renew the CGPJ without changing anything in the election system of the governing body of the judges.

Until now, Minister Bolaños had been defending in various statements the current system of electing the members of the governing body of judges, pointing out that it was the model of the Government, that it was the result of a consensus and that it had allowed the renewal of the constitutional body for three decades with governments of one political color or another.

Bolaños also stated this Monday that "no specific deadline" has been set to carry out the unlocking, but that there is a "shared will" that it be "as soon as possible."

Along the same lines, he has maintained that all the parties --both the Government and the PP-- are aware of "the enormous seriousness of this institutional crisis", as he has described it, which in his opinion has occurred with the blockade since four years ago but that has worsened after the resignation of Lesmes announced on Sunday afternoon.

Thus, he has conveyed that both the President of the Government and the leader of the opposition have agreed to define the situation in which the Judiciary is plunged as "very serious", and therefore "from that base", as he has pointed out, they have promised to negotiate -- "hopefully seriously," he pointed out -- to reach an agreement "as soon as possible."

CONVERSATION WITH YOLANDA DIAZ

Then, when questioned again about whether the Government is open to changing the election model, he indicated that he wants to be "discreet" about the content of the meeting, that they will work "with intensity and discretion" and that "when there are agreements to communicate", they will do so.

On the other hand, when questioned about whether they had informed United We Can - a minority partner of the coalition government - about the result of the meeting, he stated that he had a conversation "a few minutes ago" with the second vice president of the Government, Yolanda Díaz, in which he explained the content of the meeting and to "be coordinated" in the negotiation.

706073.1.260.149.20221010145238