Global Courant 2023-05-23 11:05:32
Without a doubt, the invalidation of an assembly of the Prosperidad Ciudadana (PC) party and with it the suspension of more than 1,200 candidacies, including that of the presidential candidate Carlos Pineda, constitute the most viral, controversial and even unprecedented issue of the electoral situation. above all because of its implications towards citizen preferences, in which this applicant appeared in first place in various measurements, such as the Free Survey, three weeks ago.
In any case, the battle for legal resources has already begun, both to reverse the suspension and to maintain it. This situation has led to the questioning of the way in which judicial criteria have an impact on electoral issues or the way in which the Supreme Electoral Tribunal has monitored the requirements for the validity of parties and candidacies. This is a critical moment, not to say an unprecedented crisis in the democratic era, which must be resolved through legitimate, public channels clearly explained to the population and legal experts. It should be remembered that there are more than 90 appeals pending final resolution referring to candidacies, which already represents delays in the printing of ballots.
In the specific case of Pineda, there have already been some manifestations of discontent in various locations, including a road blockade. According to the former presidential candidate, he will never endorse or incite traffic interruptions as a protest measure. In any case, as a citizen, he encouraged the use of the right of free expression to oppose the legal exclusion and request the Constitutional Court for an amparo to reverse the decision of the TSE and the Sixth Chamber of Administrative Litigation.
It is relevant to underline that, in the press conference offered, Pineda clarified that for the moment he is no longer a candidate, in full adherence to the provision of the Citizens’ Registry. Thus, he also let it be known that until yesterday there was no agreement on a common position between him and the national leadership of the PC, of which he is not a member.
The matter hangs like a sword of Damocles over the credibility of the Judiciary and the Constitutional Court, since the electoral future seems to depend on provisional or definitive protections. In fact, the registrar of citizens, in his explanation about the validation of PC assemblies, declared that they had obeyed previous protections granted to the organization. This virtual house of legal cards exhibits in all its precariousness the risk of validations and accreditations by the TSE, carried out based on —or rather under pressure— judicial resources, a collision of jurisprudence and a barrage of consequences, some peremptory, others transcendental, which ends up hitting the credibility of the processes in the eyes of the public.
The path of institutionality and the right of petition continue to be the way to resolve —in a peaceful, civilized and jurisprudent manner— wrongs that could have been avoided if each jurisdiction recognized its areas of influence and its limitations, not to mention conflicts of interest or unknown fidelities. . Apparently, one room had already rejected the protection that the Sixth Room decided to grant to the party called “Cambio” against PC, because what is at stake are not privileges or interests, or egos, but the future of democracy and the rule of law, which should not grant privileges or exercise exclusions unrelated to what is prescribed in the Constitution.
