The qualified majority may approve the election of second-degree officials, including magistrates of the Court, Attorney General, Attorney General of the Republic and Attorney for the Defense of Human Rights.
The Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) will begin this Tuesday with the final scrutiny to confirm the preliminary results that reflect New Ideas as the Savior’s leading political force.
In the Legislative Assembly, the officialdom party would have won 56 seats, just the qualified majority. Also, if you add the 5 from Ghana, the Executive would have 61 seats, two less than the super-qualified three-quarter Congress majority.
What can the qualified majority do?
The Legislature speaks of three types of majority:
Simple majority: half plus one
Qualified majority: two-thirds of the deputies
Absolute Majority: three quarters
However, the qualified majority refers to the 56 votes out of 84, ie two thirds of the total number of parliamentarians.
Lawyer Lissette Rivera explains that the qualified majority has the power to elect second-degree officials.
courtesy TSE
“The qualified majority may approve the election of second-degree officials including judges of the Supreme Court of Justice, Attorney General of the Republic, Attorney General of the Republic, Attorney for the Defense of Human Rights and the National Council of the judiciary (body in charge of electing judges and magistrates) “.
According to article 29 of the Constitution of the Republic with these votes the constitutional guarantees can be suspended and restored; and although it is very unlikely to happen, in case of invasion the qualified majority may decree war or public calamity, based on Article 5 of the Constitution.
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Also through article 6 of the Constitution of the Republic the guarantees of the freedom of expression can be suspended.
According to Rivera, the qualified majority can “extend the administrative detention for more than 72 hours, which is the current deadline,” but the specialist warns that in this case, the detention cannot exceed 15 days.
With 56 votes you can ratify loans and approve debt from the budget, so an increase in public debt would be expected because from here you can continue the existentialist programs that the government has managed and that have led to the success in this election.
On 9F President Nayib Bukele sat in the chair of the Speaker of the Assembly, played the gong and opened the plenary. / Photo EDH Archive
Presidential vetoes can now also be overcome. However, in this legislature it may not be necessary because NI and Guanya deputies are expected to respond to Executive interests, according to Rivera.
“The qualified majority can overcome presidential vetoes, although it is very unlikely to be used because the majority of MPs are expected to work based on those agreements and projects that are used by the President of the Republic,” he warned.
Two-thirds of deputies can easily declare the physical or mental incapacity of officials elected by the Assembly, the president or vice-president.
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While it is true that the qualified majority can ratify constitutional reforms, it cannot do so with the stony clauses that define the system of government and prevent extending the presidential term.
The qualified majority can reverse the dollarization, if it so wishes, because it has the key to authorizing reforms to the Monetary Integration Act.
What about projects and exploitation of natural resources?
Yes, the qualified majority can also award concessions for the exploitation of public resources and works, as well as authorize tenders for projects and their award to private individuals through contracts with the modality of public-private partnership.
Nayib Bukele the day he commanded an armed assault on the Legislative Palace. Photo EDH / Archive
“State concession permits can be made for the exploitation of works for the public interest,” Rivera said.
What does it mean that there is no balance in the Legislature?
“One of the political decisions we can expect with this new formation of the Legislative Assembly is that the second-degree elections respond primarily to the interests of the president, that is, all those officials elected by the Legislative Assembly are persons for or that they are willing to work on the basis of the agenda handled by the Executive because we know that the assembly formed at that time responded directly to all the interests of the executive body. “
Rivera believes that the independence of the legislature is in jeopardy because elected deputies have been elected because of the president’s popularity and will respond to his interests.
“In this sense, they will be able to decree, reform and repeal secondary laws that do not respond to the interests of the President of the Republic and therefore it becomes vital that citizens can be present raising their voices to achieve a balance. ‘He has managed to strike a balance in the Assembly, so support will be massive for everything the executive raises,’ the lawyer noted.
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He said that among the political decisions that can be expected with the new legislature is the approval of loans for the continuity of the phases for the Territorial Control Plan, as it is one of the struggles that the Executive has had and caused tension between the two state organs, as well as the militarization of February 9 in the blue palace.
“It is now almost certain that this loan approval can be given to complete and culminate the phases that the Executive has posed in a non-transparent manner.”
Rivera explained that there are no legal mechanisms that directly influence the Executive and the Legislature, but that through the rulings of the Constitutional Chamber, decisions that do not agree with what it establishes can be reversed.
The military, mostly veterans, wore weapons of war, vests and bulletproof helmets on 9F 2020 in the Assembly. Photo / Archive
The lawyer, who was a candidate for deputy for Anem, says that the political landscape in the country is uncertain because total control in the Legislative Assembly has no precedent because it had never been seen before that there was no counterweight.
“The opposition will not play a relevant role because it will not define with its vote important approvals such as the General Budget of the Nation,” he said.
However, he said that one of the advantages of this new political scenario is that now the Assembly has the key to change all those situations that have been criticized for years and make decisions such as reducing wages or eliminating unnecessary seats in the Assembly.
In this regard, analyst and academic Óscar Picardo also predicted an Assembly that will only push the button in favor of Bukele and there will not be much discussion, which is a risk.
“A president aspires to have a less belligerent Assembly. But the risk of having full control of the Assembly because it appoints the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ), Court of Auditors (CCR), Attorney General’s Office (FGR ) generates a democratic concern, which loses the balance of power and especially considering that behind New Ideas reigns the figure of a person who is the president not that of a political institute structured with a theoretical, ideological basis, everything is Nayib Bukele, ”Picardo noted.