Agreement reached to end constitutional crisis

After 17 negotiating sessions presided over by president Mauricio Funes, the leaders of El Salvador's political parties have reached an agreement which would appear to bring an end to El Salvador's ongoing constitutional crisis.   The agreement apparently came when the parties agreed to elect José Salomón Padilla as president of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Chamber, in place of Ovidio Bonilla who had been elected in April.   Belarmino Jaime and the other judges elected to the Constitutional Chamber in 2009 will continue in those roles. The judges originally elected in 2006 and 2012 will be re-elected.

The announcement from the office of president Funes, and a copy of the agreement signed by the parties can be seen at this link.

I'll have some analysis about what this resolution means for Salvadoran democracy and governance in a later post.

*Hat tip to Carlos

Comments

Carlos X. said…
Tim, if they take a closer look, your readers may think this is a strange way to run a railroad. First, this deal requires everyone to go back to their legislative caucuses and run a number of votes and requires the votes to turn out a certain way. So, Tuesday, everybody get out your rubber stamps. Second, and most notably, the deal only addresses the crucial, middle range questions, and not the big picture quandaries, nor the minutiae. So, we don't know, for example, if the Legislature will heed the rulings of the Constitutional Court in the future, and we may be down this road again before long, or if the Central American Court trumps the national court. We also don't know what will happen to a number of side issues that arose in connection with the crisis, including several complaints and investigations. But, still and all, there is much to digest.
Wayne said…
Or how many new complaints regarding this latest action will be served upon the Sala de lo Constitucional. What a way to run a railroad, indeed. For all the time, effort and breath that's been wasted these past three months on this issue, hardly seems to be the outcome ARENA/ANEP/FUSADES would have wanted.