An effort to begin the search for Guatemalan Attorney
General Claudia Paz y Paz’s replacement hit a stumbling block yesterday, after the
country’s Congress failed to pass a measure convening the committee to nominate
a new attorney general.
Prensa
Libre reports that yesterday’s session, which was meant as a simple procedural
vote, turned into a major bone of contention between lawmakers of the governing
Patriotic Party and the opposition. The measure received only 69 votes in its
favor, with 30 opposition congressmen voting against it and 59 others failing
to turn up for the vote. Because this fell short of the required 80-vote
quorum, the bill failed to pass.
Roberto Villate, head of the Renewed Democratic Liberty
Party (LIDER), cited the lack of decisiveness in the Constitutional Court’s decision
as his party’s main reason for opposing the bill. Even though Wednesday’s decision contained language
calling on Congress to convene the nominating commission, it was a provisional
endorsement of a constitutional challenge (an “amparo”), and its consequences
are unclear. “This ruling is partial, not definitive,” Vilallte said. “We
cannot go around addressing, and much less giving an ‘amen,’ to all
Constitutional Court resolutions made by provisional amparo if it has not definitely resolved on the matter.”
Anabella Morfin, a Guatemalan constitutional scholar
consulted by Plaza Publica
about the ruling, agreed that the court order was unclear, as it “would not be
the first time that the Constitutional Court gave a provisional ruling on
something and then in its final judgment resolves something else.” Alvaro
Castellanos Howell, another constitutional expert, disagreed, telling the news
site that the language in the provisional decree was so firm that the odds it
will ultimately decide against shortening Paz y Paz’s term are slim.
Writing for RiosMontt-Trial.org,
the Open Society Justice Initiative’s Emi MacLean claims that that the ruling
is ostensibly not subject to appeal, “but only ‘clarification’ or ‘amplification.’”
However, this has not stopped Paz y Paz from challenging the decision in court.
EFE
reports that yesterday a spokesperson for the Public Ministry told the news
agency that the attorney general’s office had presented an “appeal for
annulment,” to the Constitutional Court. Its goal is for the court to revoke its
previous decision to cut short Paz y Paz’s term, on the grounds that the Guatemalan
constitution does not specify the dates the attorney general must take office, though
it does lay out a four-year term.
Meanwhile, as the politics of Paz y Paz’s truncated term
heat up, the day after the controversial ruling saw an outpouring of domestic
and international support for the acclaimed judicial reformer. The International
Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), the United Nations-backed
anti-impunity commission in the country, praised
the attorney general’s work and called for the debate around her term to be
clarified soon. The CICIG was joined by the U.S. Ambassador Arnold Chacon, who released
a statement saying that Paz y Paz is proof that “there are public servants
in Guatemala who honest, capable and have integrity.” Chacon also said that the
U.S. Embassy is studying the provisional ruling and “awaits a final decision”
on the matter.
Human rights advocates have been decidedly more critical of
the decision. The Washington DC-based the Center for Justice and International
Law (CEJIL) deplored
the ruling, calling it unwarranted and noting that the move “could be
considered as an implicit sanction of the attorney general, in retaliation for her
work as an attendant of justice.” In remarks to the New
York Times, Guatemalan human rights activist Helen Mack said the decision
was “evidence that the court is under the power of entrenched powers from the
private sector and the extreme right.” Paz y Paz, for her part, seems to be in
agreement with this statement. In an interview with El Periodico yesterday,
the attorney general suggested that the Constitutional Court ruling was about
more than the legal scope of her term limits. “Those who have been affected by
the advancement of justice are in a hurry for me to leave office,” she said.
News Briefs
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