Some initial consequences of the political power shift in Congress

ARGENTINA - In Brief 17 Dec 2021 by Esteban Fernández Medrano

Both the Supreme Court’s declaring the reform of the Council of the Magistracy unconstitutional and the Lower House’s rejection of the 2022 budget are two clear signals of the power shift in the Congress after the mid-term elections.Although the underlying risk is that of a radicalization of the government and a potential rise in political and social tension, at the end of the day the need of the government to negotiate with a politically/judicially less conditioned opposition should be welcome in a medium-term view. But as an immediate reaction, the lack of a 2022 budget will be read negatively as it puts the agreement with the IMF at risk. The executive response to the blunder in congress will be very important.A) The Supreme Court declares the reform of the Council of the Magistracy unconstitutionalAfter the swearing-in of the new congressmen, following the recent mid-term election that resulted in a consequential political power shift, and considering the recent victories of Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK) in her judicial battle “against” the judicial system, the Supreme Court ruled that the 2006 reform of the Council of the Magistracy is unconstitutional. More specifically, the reduction of its members from 20 to 13 (including the removal of the seat of the Supreme Court president), promoted at that time by Senator CFK, is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court argued that the former composition does not ensure proper independence of the judicial power or that it might enable meddling by political powers (executive and legislative), as indeed has been the case over the last year.The Council is particularly important these days as it not only selec...

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