This week will be “key” in the process of renewal of the justice systemgiven that the nomination commission, which is in charge of preparing the list of candidates for attorney general and head of the Public Ministry (MP), must send the list with the six most suitable candidates to apply for the position, according to said President Bernardo Arévalo during the press conference held this Monday at the National Palace of Culture.
“In the course of this week I will receive the list of six profiles suggested by the commission to allow me to carry out my part in this process. As President of the Republic I am committed to ensuring that the Public Ministry is a serious institution and that it stops being exploited; we need an institution that acts with justice and not that acts as a wall of impunity, that persecutes criminals and not that sponsors the corrupt,” said Arévalo.
The president stated that, as soon as the commission’s final list is available, the corresponding evaluations will be carried out, based on the suitability criteria established by law to carry out the election.
About possible pressures
Regarding possible pressures and interference from some “dark” sectors, interested in avoiding a transparent election of candidates within the final list that will be sent by the commission, Arévalo did not rule out the existence of these actions by these groups.
“We know that dark actors are doing everything they can to try to prevent a transparent and objective election where the members of the commissions are free to act. We do not know what the mechanisms of coercion are, any system of coercion or pressure is absolutely condemnable around this,” he said.
According to the presidenthave been made aware through some comments about these possible pressures on the members of the nomination committee.
“Those who are the most appropriate to respond are the members of the commission, we have received comments that there would be threats, there would be coercion, there would be different things, but we are not the ones who are receiving them so we cannot affirm, but if they existed it would be another demonstration of the abuse of power that these actors are willing to exercise,” he concluded.
Will evaluate files
The president also assured that, the moment you have in your hands the list of the six candidates to occupy the position, will be carrying out some procedures to determine who is the most suitable person. To this end, he stated that he will be carrying out interviews with the candidates who are considered most suitable or who meet the requirements for the position.
“This obviously implies an interview with those candidates who are considered suitable in a first review based on the files. From there it will be identified which candidates have a probability and who respond to the criteria that the presidency has in the need for independent, objective, accurate and effective justice and those will be the people who will be interviewed,” said Arévalo.