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Troubles begin as El Salvador Congress votes for top judges | Court Matters

Human rights activists and judges have criticized members of the alliance with El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele for voting to remove the Supreme Court’s top judges, who they say are seeking to overturn Bukele’s rule.

On Saturday, parliament voted to remove all judges from the Supreme Court in the Supreme Court for issuing “unfair” judgments.

Lawmakers also voted to remove Attorney General Raul Melara, who is known to be close to the opposition party.

Bukele’s Nuevas Ideas (New Ideas) and their allies have more members in the room after a major victory in legal voting in February.

“And the people of El Salvador, through their envoys, said: ‘THROUGH!’ Bukele sent a voice following the vote.

Elisa Rosales, New Ideas lawmaker, says this should address COVID-19.

He also said that there was “clear evidence” that the five judges had compromised the government’s health system and that lawmakers should remove them to protect the public.

El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has lost his voice in a bid to strengthen his rule in the country [File: Jose Cabezas]

A few minutes after the vote, the judges ruled that the parliamentary decision was unconstitutional, leading to controversy over the country’s higher authority.

Several human rights groups and experts have done so, criticizing the President for leading El Salvador into political crisis.

“Bukele is breaking the law and wants to put all the power in his hands,” said Jose Miguel Vivanco, chief of Human Rights Watch in the United States.

“It’s a problem that’s at high risk. That’s it [Congress] is playing with fire and can exacerbate the problem to the point where we cannot get out of it, ”Miguel Montenegro, head of the human rights organization, told AFP.

The United States has said it has strongly condemned the removal of judges, saying “full respect for democracy is essential”.

“I condemn the way in which politicians have undermined and undermined the jurisdiction of the judiciary by removing members of the Constitutional Chamber,” Diego Garcia-Sayan, a UN special rapporteur at the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, also sent a statement after the vote.

‘It Does Not Affect You’

Government agencies were involved warned ahead of February 28 by-elections that if the Bukele party did well, the result could accelerate the demise of democratic institutions in the country.

But many voters have been disappointed by the many political parties that have retained power in El Salvador since the end of the 12-year civil war in 1992 – and he said supported the Bukele party because it promised to deal with corruption.

After midnight on Sunday, Bukele said on Twitter that although El Salvador wanted to work with foreign countries, it should withdraw from the country’s affairs.

“To our friends in the International Community: We want to work with you, sell, travel, get to know each other and support where we can. Our doors are more open than ever. But with all due respect: We are cleaning our house… and you are not doing this,” he said. he wrote.

However, opposition lawmakers in Salvador criticized the Nuevas Ideas for trying to “rebel”.

“What happened last night in Parliament, when many of them voted for them, is in an attempt to overthrow the government,” said Arena right-wing Rene Portillo.

Lawmakers in the United States and senior officials of President Joe Biden also opposed the vote.

Earlier this week, Biden officials promised $ 310m to help in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala to stop immigration to the United States.

“Let’s face it: this is not democracy, this is destroying independent courts and laws,” Congressman Jim McGovern he wrote, while Juan Gonzalez, Biden’s chief consultant in Latin America, said: “This is not what you do.”

“Strong ties between the US-El Salvador will depend on the El Salvador government to support the separation of powers and adhere to the principles of democracy,” US State Department official Julie Chung said on Twitter.




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