“Soria effect”: the Government lost two thirds to appoint key judges

Nor the judicial reform which was to be the “legacy” of Alberto Fernandez neither the change of prosecutor nor any of the plans to modify the functioning of the Court. Nothing has prospered. The only concrete achievements of the Government in its desire to reform the justice system were, until now, Judicial Council.

Hence, the new composition of the Federal Chamber of Buenos Aires, the powerful tribunal which reviews the decisions of the twelve judges of Comodoro Py. Following a long work of Geronimo Ustarroz And his brother Pedro wado, Roberto Boico, lawyer for Cristina Kirchner, was appointed chambermaid, Eduardo Farah he was sent back to court, and Kirchnerism got two more vacancies to fill the places of Leopoldo Bruglia and Pablo Bertuzzi.

The appointment of judges requires a two-thirds majority in the Council, which the ruling party does not have. He did this by dividing the opposition. Today, the government’s most belligerent attitude towards justice, the “Soria effect” – as defined by an anti-Kirchnerist adviser on the arrival of the future new minister -, the opponents have buckled up. (With the exception of Graciela Camano who, strictly speaking, has never been a member of this bloc).

The key to the new scenario is the change of judge-advisor Ricardo Recondo, who announced to his that he was no longer prepared to come back to negotiate appointments with Kirchnerism. The argument is that it is not possible to believe that the agreements will be honored. The mistrust is not with the interlocutors of the government, but with Alberto Fernandez. The Council organizes competitions to nominate two chambermaids and three judges for Comodoro Py. According to the Constitution, councilors elect shortlists to executive power and the president elects future judges from these shortlists. Agreements, historically, have been about defining before competitions are approved by the board, who will judge each shortlist’s executive to elect. The opposition would have tried, for example, to elect one of the two chambermaids to be appointed in Comodoro Py. Recondo, who is under pressure from his “bases” (the list of the Association of magistrates most critical of Kirchnerism), suspects the president of no longer guaranteeing their own election.

“The Soria effect is very good for us. The Court, the associations, the judges, all more attached than ever ”, he declared. THE NATION a macrista who knows justice like few others.

A two-thirds majority is also required to open political trials to judges. Joaquín Morales Solá said Recondo was heard to say that he would not let down a judge even if they took him to see Satan. A bad omen for Martín Soria’s plans and his record as a whistleblower.

The first sign of the new “opposition resistance” is that “the six” have returned diligently to their meetings via Zoom. It doesn’t mean that they don’t trust each other. In order to unify the group, referents from Together for Change intervene, such as Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and Mauricio Macri, who closely follow what is happening in the Council. “Macri is much more involved in Council matters now than when he was President”said a pro man.

The new step, with a change of minister included, does not seem to help the government get the votes for the changes it seeks to approve. Neither in the Council nor in the Congress, where the central objective of Martín Soria will be to unblock the reform of the Law of the public prosecutor to change the prosecutor.

What advantages does a more radicalized minister like Soria offer them? In Kirchnerism they say that now they will finally have a unified message and that there will no longer be two terminals -In reference to the former minister Marcela losardo-. Also, that they are a few votes away from approving the reform of the prosecution service and that Soria, with his years as a deputy, can play a key role. If not now, after the October elections (assuming a good result for the ruling party). In opposition, they are not calm on the subject. “They are close and the government has the portfolio,” said an opposition MP.

Losardo, meanwhile, has reopened the studio offices on Callao Avenue that he shared with Alberto Fernández for years. Excited by the plan to go to Unesco, based in Paris, she began to hold meetings and resumed her French lessons. In opposition, they smile: “We will see how long it will take Cristina to give her the agreement.”