President Mejia said that he will not allow members of the civic society to set guidelines for his government. He specifically referred to Francisco Alvarez, Melba Barnett and Francisco Dominguez Brito, leading members of civic society organizations that joined together under the Coalition for an Independent Justice to lobby the government not to appoint well-known politicians as Supreme Court Justices. The Coalition was against the appointment of Pedro Romero Confesor. “I have given them all the meetings, accepted all the appointments… what I do not accept is that they impose judgements, whether he is the son of Francisco Alvarez Castellanos [a well known journalist], has a beard or moustache, has an exotic last name, be it Barnet or Barneta. I do not accept impositions on the National Palace. They have shown a lack of respect to the figure of the President,” he said. President Mejia insisted that the civic society leaders launch their own candidacies (“que se tiren a la candela”) if they want to impose their will. He said he does not believe in the non-partisanship they proclaim. “Dominguez Brito is a politician, Julito Ibarra is political… all of them were politicians. That they want justice without politicians, that is not possible,” said Mejia when participating in a luncheon of the Circuito Corporan, the TV and radio network.
