Public policies
The most important thing is to strengthen the TSE, which today lives its darkest time.
If the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) was already dragging a gradual deterioration and a credibility crisis, the recent suspension of several of its titular magistrates for accusations of the Public Ministry has led it to the edge of an unprecedented institutional collapse. The highest electoral authority of Guatemala, which should be guarantor of the legality, transparency and the effectiveness of the democratic process, today staggers under the weight of its structural fragility and the accumulated errors in recent years.
The underlying problem, however, is not just the current situation. The gradual weakening and the consequent instability of the TSE are the most visible symptoms of a deeper disease: its institutional fragility and its lack of independence with respect to the political class (on which it is called to exercising authority). The way in which the magistrates are currently chosen, organized and exercised allows professionals with insufficient technical training, politically influenced and subject to interests outside democracy, come to direct the electoral destiny of the country. This crisis is not an accident: it is the predictable outcome of a system that has been adulterating to make it fragile, vulnerable and easily co -optable.
Meanwhile, in Congress, the initiatives for reforming the Electoral Law and of Political Parties (LEPP) advance, but with a superficial approach. The reforms under discussion focus mainly on procedural aspects (which could be resolved by administrative or regulatory means if there was a strong and credible TSE) and in cosmetic adjustments, without touching the structural problems that really endanger Guatemalan democracy. It is discussed on financing and propaganda technicisms, but the true substantive issue is eluded: the TSE needs a deep reconfiguration to guarantee its independence and effectiveness.
The TSE needs deep reconfiguration to guarantee its independence and efficiency.
The strengthening of the TSE goes through at least three crucial reforms: (1) to prolong the period of the magistrates and establish their renewal in a staggered way, in order to prevent a single legislature from concentrating the power to choose the entire plenary; (2) Clearly separate the jurisdictional functions of the administrative ones, so that the magistrates dedicate themselves to imparting electoral justice without being absorbed – or even tempted towards corruption – by purely operational efforts; and (3) guarantee magistrates selection mechanisms that are based on the abilities, merits and career of the applicants, and not in political negotiations between the same forces to which these future magistrates must control.
The collapse of the party system is a parallel crisis that worries and merits attention, but the collapse of the electoral authority is an even more serious threat. Without a strengthened, independent and professional TSE, Guatemala runs the risk of losing what still remains of his fragile democracy. The political class must understand that it is not about preserving privileges or continuing to manage the crisis, but to prevent the country from entering a spiral of institutional distrust of which it can hardly come out.
The time for patches and warm electoral reforms has already passed. If Guatemalan democracy wants to survive and strengthen yourself, it needs a TSE with a renewed moral authority that lives up to the challenge. The question is whether the political class (inside and outside Congress) and organized citizenship are willing to assume that challenge before it is too late.