Development: On 19 August President Mauricio Funes announced an end to the institutional crisis between the legislature and judiciary, which had been triggered by the 5 June ruling issued by the constitutional chamber (SC) of El Salvador’s supreme court of justice (CSJ), voiding the 24 April congressional elections for the judiciary.
Significance: The breakthrough follows the agreement by all the main political parties to appoint José Salomón Padilla, as the new head of the CSJ, instead of Ovidio Bonilla, the choice of the ruling Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN). The main right-wing opposition party, the Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (Arena), opposed the designation due to Bonilla’s links to the FMLN. The impasse had resulted in two CSJ’s operating simultaneously since 16 July. Its resolution will be well-received by the international community; the US and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) were among those calling for a quick resolution of the crisis.
Key points:
• Yesterday’s agreement came after 17 meetings (since 24 July) between the main parties, mediated by Funes. The 5 June ruling had found illegal the legislature’s election of CSJ magistrates in 2012 and 2006 on the grounds that the appointments violated an (implicit) constitutional provision that the same legislature cannot appoint more than one set of magistrates.
• Under the terms of the deal, Padilla will also head up the five-member SC, along with Belarmino Jaime, Florentín Meléndez, Sidney Blanco and Rodolfo González, who were elected in 2009. The decision to keep the latter four in their posts is a concession to the SC, widely respected as an independent institution that has had various run-ins with the legislature over its attempts to erode the power of political parties; the so-called “Fantastic Four”, achieved hero status last year amid the failed attempts by the legislature to paralyse the work of the SC.
• While Arena had rejected Bonilla’s appointment as too partisan - he ran unsuccessfully for a local council seat for the FMLN in 2009 - Padilla also has links to the FMLN. He has served as manager of Alba Petróleos - the joint venture set up in 2006 between Enepasa (a company formed by FMLN mayors) and PDV Caribe, a subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company (PDVSA).
• Yesterday’s deal also formalised an agreement partially made on 1 August, whereby party leaders agreed to re-elect the classes of 2006 and 2012 magistrates. (CSJ magistrates serve nine-year terms).
