A qualified majority may approve the election of second-degree officials, including magistrates of the Court, the Prosecutor General, the Prosecutor General of the Republic and the Prosecutor for the Protection of Human Rights.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) will begin final review on Tuesday to confirm preliminary results that reflect new ideas as El Salvador’s main political force.
In the Legislative Assembly, the ruling party would have obtained 56 seats, only a qualified majority. In addition, if Ghana’s 5 are added, the Executive would have 61 seats, two less than the super-qualified three-quarter majority in Congress.
What can the qualified majority do?
In the legislature, there are 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 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.
Kindness EST
“A qualified majority may approve the election of second-degree officials, including Supreme Court justices, the Attorney General, the Attorney General, the Prosecutor for Human Rights and the National Council of Justice (the body responsible for electing judges and magistrates).”
According to Article 29 of the Constitution of the Republic, with these votes, constitutional guarantees may be suspended and restored; And, although it is very unlikely to happen, in the event of an invasion, the qualified majority can decree war or public calamity, based on Article 5 of the Constitution.
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Also, by Article 6 of the Constitution of the Republic, guarantees of freedom of expression may be suspended.
According to Rivera, the qualified majority can “extend the administrative detention by more than 72 hours, which is the current term”, but the specialist warns that, in this case, the detention cannot exceed 15 days.
With 56 votes, the loans can be ratified and the approved budget debt, therefore, an increase in public debt would be expected, because from there it is possible to continue the existentialist programs that the Government has managed and which have led to the success achieved in these elections.
On 9F, President Nayib Bukele sat in the chair of the President of the Assembly, played the gong and opened the plenary. / Photo EDH Archive
Presidential vetoes can now be overcome. However, this may not be necessary in this legislature, as NI and Ghana are expected to respond to the interests of the Executive, according to Rivera.
“The qualified majority can overcome the presidential vetoes, although it is very unlikely to be used, as the majority of deputies are expected to work on the basis of those agreements and projects that are used by the President of the Republic,” he warned.
Two-thirds of Members may easily declare the physical or mental incapacity of officials elected by the Assembly as 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 governmental system and prevent the extension of the presidential term.
The qualified majority can reverse the dollarization, if it wishes, because it has the key to authorize the reforms of the Monetary Integration Law.
What about projects and the exploitation of natural resources?
Yes, the qualified majority can also grant concessions for the exploitation of public resources and works, as well as authorize bids for projects and award them to private parties through public-private partnership contracts.
Nayib Bukele on the day he ordered an armed assault on the Legislative Palace. Photo EDH / Archive
“You can make an authorization for state concessions for the operation of works in 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 compliance of the Legislative Assembly is that the second-degree elections are mainly in the interests of the President, ie all those officials elected by the Legislative Assembly are persons for this purpose. or who are willing to work on the agenda that the Executive manages because we know that the assembly formed at this time will respond directly to all the interests of the executive body ”.
Rivera believes that the independence of the legislature is in jeopardy because the elected deputies were elected due to the popularity of the president and will respond to his interests.
“In this sense, they will be able to decree, reform and repeal secondary laws that do not meet the interests of the President of the Republic and therefore it becomes vital that citizens can be present raising their voices, so that balance can be established. It was not possible to establish a balance in the Assembly, therefore the support will be massive for everything that the Executive proposes “, said the lawyer.
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He assured 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, because it is one of the fights that the Executive had and provoked tension between the two states. as well as the February 9 militarization 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 raised in a non-transparent manner.”
Rivera explained that there are no legal mechanisms to directly influence between the Executive and the Legislature, but that through the decisions of the Constitutional Chamber, decisions that do not comply with those established can be reversed.
The military, mostly veterans, wore weapons of war, bulletproof vests and helmets on 9F 2020 in the Assembly. Photography / Archive
The lawyer, who was a candidate for deputy for Vamos, says that the political landscape in the country is uncertain, as total control in the Legislative Assembly is unprecedented, as it has never been seen before that there is no counterweight.
“The opposition will not have 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 assured that one of the advantages of this new political scenario is that now the Assembly has the key to change all those situations criticized for years and to take decisions such as reducing salaries or eliminating unnecessary seats in the assembly.
In this regard, analyst and academician Óscar Picardo also predicted a meeting that will only press the button in favor of Bukele and there will not be too many discussions, 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), the Court of Accounts (CCR), the Attorney General (FGR) generates a democratic concern that the balance of power is lost and above all, having given that behind the new ideas reigns the figure of a person who is the president, not of a structured political institute with a theoretical, ideological basis, everything is Nayib Bukele “, said Picardo.