Spain: an end to the blockade in the judiciary?
The crisis in Spain's judiciary has come to a head: numerous key judicial posts have long been vacant because the country's main political parties have blocked the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary. Now Carlos Lesmes has resigned as president of the Council and president of Spain's Supreme Court and Spain's socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is negotiating with centre-right opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijoo.
Seize this opportunity
Better late than never, writes El Periódico de Catalunya:
“The formalisation of the long announced resignation of Carlos Lesmes seems to have faced the prime minister and the leader of the PP with the unavoidable task of renewing the judges' governing body, whose mandate ended three years and ten months ago. Their inability to appoint new members until now - especially due to the PP's constant blockade - has led to the collapse of the judiciary, triggered an unprecedented institutional crisis and damaged Spain's image in the EU. ... If the meeting finally breaks the deadlock, we must thank Lesmes for resigning, even if one might ask why he didn't do so sooner.”
Hopefully more than just a show
El País is cautiously optimistic:
“This meeting between Sánchez and Feijóo must not be allowed to lead yet again to a frustrating lack of response to such a serious constitutional problem. The PP cannot continue to insist on maintaining a perpetual conservative majority in the General Council of the Judiciary and the Constitutional Court. This goes against the citizen's interest, has led to vacancies in courts and is unconstitutional. In the coming hours or days - this crisis admits no delay - we will see whether a sense of responsibility prevails or whether we are once again faced with a mere staging of good intentions.”