The conservative block of the CGPJ sees the government's reform on the candidates for the TC as "a devastating interference"

The conservative majority of the TC also speaks of excessive tension: "It is endangering the institutions"

MADRID, 9 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The amendment introduced this Friday by the PSOE and Unidas Podemos (UP) to change the election process of the two candidates for the Constitutional Court (TC) that is the responsibility of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) when it is not done within the deadline has deepened the already existing divisions in the conservative and progressive sectors of both institutions, since the former --majority-- see it as a form of pressure and the latter as a solution to the current blockade.

The government partners propose going from a three-fifths majority to a simple one so that the CGPJ designates its two candidates for the TC and that, in the event that the governing body of the judges continues to fail, their members can be held accountable even penalties.

According to the sources consulted by Europa Press, the conservative block of the CGPJ believes that it is a "devastating interference", a "blackmail" and even a threat whose objective is not so much to guarantee that the Council appoints its two candidates for the TC as that the nominee for the progressive sector be admitted: the magistrate of the Supreme Court (TS) José Manuel Bandrés.

From the conservative wing they call attention to the fact that the reform contemplates that, instead of each of the 18 members proposing and voting for two candidates, they propose and vote for only one, which -as they explain- will guarantee that the two most voted are the aspirants of each block, in the case of the progressives, Bandrés.

The negotiations within the CGPJ reached a dead end last week after the progressive members ratified Bandrés' candidacy and offered to the conservatives to also accept without objection the candidate they designated. But the conservatives rejected that system, insisting that both candidates must be chosen jointly.

Thus, the conservative block of the CGPJ has met this Friday to study the possibility of requesting the interim president, Rafael Mozo, to convene an extraordinary plenary session to vote for the two TC candidates before the aforementioned reform is approved and go into effect.

However, from the progressive current they believe that the proposal of PSOE and UP is a legitimate way for the Cortes Generales to offer a solution to the current blockade. In his opinion, the "shameful" thing would be that "nobody did anything" to try to remove the obstacles that prevent the normal functioning of the institutions.

In addition, from the progressive sector it is understood that "reasonable" right now would even wait to hold any vote in the CGPJ on the two candidates for the TC for the reform to become a reality.

In this way, the progressive members open the door to postpone the vote scheduled for the ordinary plenary session on December 22, the first that was to be carried out on the duo for the Constitutional.

In his opinion, if the conservative bloc was in no "hurry" to comply with this constitutional obligation, now there is no reason to speed up, and even less so when representatives and senators are expected to change the voting rules.

On the other hand, the amendments presented propose that, if after the 9 years and 3 months of the mandate of the four magistrates of the TC proposed by the CGPJ (two) and by the Government (two), the two candidates who have proposed even if the other two are missing, and that without the need for the 'placet' of the Constitutional Plenary.

With these changes, the Government circumvents all the obstacles to be able to name its two candidates for the TC, the former minister Juan Carlos Campo and the former adviser to Moncloa Laura Díez, without waiting for the CGPJ to fulfill its part and without risking that the current conservative majority of the Constitutional stop their landing in the court of guarantees without the two of the CGPJ.

In the conservative block of the TC they believe that this reform supposes "force" and generates "distortions" in the usual operation. "It is endangering the institutions," summarize the sources consulted.

Likewise, they underline that, although with these amendments the laws that govern the CGPJ and the TC could be reformed, the Constitution continues to establish that the renewal must be produced by third parties, for which reason they warn that, if they are appealed, their fit should be assessed in the Magna Carta.

In the opposite sense, the progressive wing of the TC welcomes the proposed reform. In his opinion, Parliament is, precisely, to offer solutions to what they estimate was already a "double boycott" --of the conservative majorities in CGPJ and Constitutional-- to indefinitely block the renewal of the TC.