Lawyer Laura Acosta says that to legalize the suspension of the municipal elections, the Central Electoral Board (JCE) should submit its decision to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), so that the court make this legitimate. She explains the electoral law only foresees “annulling” elections, not suspending these. “To annul an election means that these had been held, which is not the case,” she said in a contribution on the issue published in El Dia on 18 February 2020.
Acosta argues that the law establishes that the TSE is the government entity that can order these to be celebrated on a date that the court should indicate within the next 30 days of the cancellation. Acosta says that the new election needs to be held in time so that the new mayors and officers can be sworn in by 24 April as established in the Constitution.
Regardless, she points out the new date is a political decision that should be decided by the political parties themselves.
She says the current situation and follow-up decisions need to be able to resist challenges presented to the TSE and the Constitutional Court. “Hence the need for a political agreement,” she highlights. “Of course, it will be up to the Superior Electoral Court or the Constitutional Court, as the case may be, to give their opinion promptly before any power of attorney to guarantee stability,” she stated.
Lawyer Candido Simón also advocates the strict adherence to legalities to reduce the number of challenges to the winners of the municipal election now called for 15 March.
Read more in Spanish:
El Dia
Z 101 Digital
19 February 2020