Lawyer Francisco Alvarez has appealed to President Hipolito Mejia to name the organizations and persons who the President said had lobbied for candidates to the Supreme Court. Three vacancies were filled last week. Alvarez was spokesperson for the Coalition for an Independent Justice which lobbied to deny election to people with strong political affiliations. Interviewed on a Channel 11 TV program, President Mejia earlier this week disqualified the civic society from criticizing the selection process, saying that several of its members lobbied him in favor of specific judges sympathetic to their interests. Alvarez denied the charge, saying that the only time the Coalition for an Independent Justice met with President Mejia was on Friday prior to the meetings of the National Council of the Magistracy and no names of candidates were mentioned. He said that the Coalition’s preferred candidates were published in the press several days before the council meetings were held.
