President Hipolito Mejia said over the weekend that he favors reforming the Constitution so that a 40-45% vote is needed to win the Presidency in a first electoral round. At present, 50%+ 1 vote is needed. In the 2000 election, President Mejia himself did not make the 50%, but was so near, his closest opponent conceded defeat. President Mejia also favors again holding presidential election and the municipal and congressional election in the same year. As of 1996, these elections are held separately. There is extensive national opposition to this reform particularly as it is considered untimely given the more important matters on the congressional agenda. Opposition is also strong because it is suspect that the reform will come with an extension of the term of the present congressional representatives. El Siglo newspaper also carries a report with the concern of Aura Celeste Fernandez, former head of the Commission for the Reform of Modernization of Justice. Fernandez alerts that as part of the constitutional reform proposed by the Congress the Supreme Court of Justice would no longer be responsible for naming the judges. The judges would be named by the Consejo Nacional de la Magistratura, the body that appointed the Supreme Court judges.
