LatinNews Daily Report - 11 February 2013

POLITICS & ELECTIONS| Monges threatens to take his case to supreme court. On 10 February Modesto Monges, a judge on Paraguay’s supreme electoral tribunal (TSJE), said that he could take a case against his enforced retirement to the supreme court. On 24 February Monges will turn 75 – the retirement age stipulated by Paraguay’s constitution. Monges, a member of the right-wing Unión Nacional de Ciudadnos Eticos (Unace), wants to remain in his post for the entire year so as to oversee the 21 April general election. He argues that while the constitution is clear on the retirement age, it does not specify when exactly he must step down, noting that it is up to the TJSE itself to “remove and replace judges according to its own protocols”. Monges’ decision to remain on has been severely criticised by the leftist opposition Frente Guasú (FG) coalition of the impeached former president Fernando Lugo (2008-2012), which is seeking to replace the “anti-Left” Monges with another judge more amenable to the FG. However, the Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico (PLRA) government led by President Federico Franco has so far refused to put pressure on Monges.

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