Following several days of rumors, it was confirmed yesterday in El Caribe newspaper that the chief justice and head of the Supreme Court, Jorge Subero Isa, is under pressure, reportedly from the highest levels of government, to resign his post. According to some reports, he is being offered a plum diplomatic posting as compensation. Subero Isa himself has acknowledged the pressure for him to resign, but denies that the PPH (Proyecto Presidencial Hipolito, the internal PRD faction promoting the President’s re-election) is behind this drive, as is widely believed in media circles. President Hipolito Mejia has challenged Subero Isa to publicly reveal who has been coercing him, saying that he had always respected the independence of the judicial sector. The charge was also hotly denied by Guido Gomez Mazara, the government legal advisor and leading PPH activist. For her part, Vice President and Presidential hopeful Milagros Ortiz Bosch urged Subero Isa to remain at his post. Subero Isa is quoted in Diario Libre’s “El Espia” column as saying, “I won’t be a lame duck. I will leave the Supreme Court with as much dignity as I arrived there with.” El Caribe newspaper, which broke the story yesterday, comments in its main editorial column that whether or not there is political pressure on the Supreme Court, everything must be done to preserve the progress made in the legal system over the last few years. “Almost every part of Dominican society recognizes the Supreme Court’s work to improve the justice system, to increase judicial efficiency and establish reforms that will lead to the Dominican Republic having a real state of law.” There have been obstacles, continues the editorial writer, citing the recent budget cuts, but despite this the process has to continue, and the judicial authorities must not yield to this sort of pressure.