Feijóo wants a written commitment to reform the CGPJ election and Sánchez rules it out

The president says that the leader of the PP "knows perfectly well that it is not a condition and cannot be"

The leader of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, wants the Government to commit in writing that once the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) is renewed, there will be a reform of the law for the election of said body, something that has been ruled out by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez.

This has been expressed by both in conversation with journalists during the reception at the Royal Palace which they have attended together with ministers and other political leaders among a total of some 1,500 guests, after the parade of the National Holiday, when asked about the negotiation to renew the CGPJ.

The 'popular' president has said that, although he does not want to say "anything that could harm" the dialogue that began this Monday as a result of the resignation of the president of the Supreme Court and the CGPJ, Carlos Lesmes, he has indicated that he hopes there will be a "written commitment" from the Government that the 1985 law of the Judiciary will be changed later.

Feijóo has insisted that the judges and jurists be the ones who elect the highest body and has shown his incomprehension because the Government understands that this is "excessive", while reiterating once again that if he reaches Moncloa he will reform said law.

Likewise, it has considered that there is sufficient margin, once the CGPJ has been renewed, to be able to agree on the new law, as the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, recently raised during his visit, before Spain assumes the rotating Presidency of the EU in the second half of 2023.

For his part, the President of the Executive has made it clear that there will be no written commitment. As he has said, Feijóo "knows perfectly well that it is not a condition and cannot be", so the Government and the PP must "find ways".

In addition, he recalled that the two previous attempts by the PP to reform the Law of the Judiciary in Congress did not obtain the necessary support and that the 'popular' do not currently have the necessary majority.

Sánchez has stressed that the "key" to everything happens because Feijóo makes the "political decision" of whether he wants to follow "the path of Pablo Casado", and breach the "constitutional agreement of 1978", or on the contrary he agrees to comply with the Constitution and renew the CGPJ, which has been in office for almost four years.

The head of the Government has recognized that the resignation of Lesmes, which has become effective precisely this Wednesday, has generated a "first level institutional crisis" and has agreed with Feijóo on the need to reach an agreement.

Sánchez has been in favor of not "underlining the differences" between the Government and the PP but rather in making clear the will of the Executive with which the Constitution is complied with.

Thus, he has preferred to be "cautious" about whether there will be an immediate pact, remembering that previously it was very close and in the end it was not possible. In this sense, he has given as an example that when an agreement was reached a few months ago for the renewal of the Court of Accounts and other institutions, "it was resolved in an afternoon".

BOLAÑOS DOES NOT GIVE DETAILS

Neither did the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, who has the task of resolving the issue together with the deputy secretary of Institutional of the 'popular', Esteban González Pons, have wanted to give more clues about how the negotiation with the PP is evolving.

Bolaños has not wanted to "advance content" of what is being debated, opting instead to wait until "everything is closed." However, he has assured that the negotiation "is progressing adequately" and has also been convinced that Podemos will not pose "any problem" even if it does not get any member in the new CGPJ.

More optimistic has been the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande Marlaska, who has trusted that there will be an agreement "in days". As a magistrate, the minister has defended the current system of election of the members of the CGPJ and has stressed that the PP "cannot condition compliance with the law."