The qualified majority can approve the election of second-degree officials, including the magistrates of the Court, the Attorney General, the Attorney General of the Republic and the Attorney for the Defense of Human Rights.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) will begin its final review this Tuesday to confirm preliminary results that reflect New Ideas as the leading political force in El Salvador.
In the Legislative Assembly, the ruling party is said to have obtained 56 seats, only a qualified majority. Additionally, if Gana’s 5 are added, the executive branch would have 61 seats, two fewer than three-quarters of the congressional superqualified majority.
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 alternates
Absolute majority: three quarters
However, the qualified majority refers to 56 out of 84 votes, or two-thirds of the total number of parliamentarians.
Lawyer Lissette Rivera explains that the qualified majority has the power to elect second-degree civil servants.
Courtesy TSE
“The qualified majority can approve the election of second-degree officials, including the magistrates of the Supreme Court, the Attorney General of the Republic, the Attorney General of the Republic, the Attorney for the Defense of Human Rights and the National Council for Judiciary power. (body charged with electing judges and magistrates) ”.
According to Article 29 of the Constitution of the Republic, these votes can suspend and restore constitutional guarantees; And while it is highly unlikely to happen, in the event of an invasion, the qualified majority could declare war or public calamities, based on Article 5 of the Constitution.
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Guarantees of freedom of expression can also be suspended by Article 6 of the Constitution of the Republic.
Rivera said the qualified majority could “extend the administrative detention by more than 72 hours, which is the current deadline,” but the specialist warns that if this is the case, the detention should not exceed 15 days.
With 56 votes, loans can be sanctioned and budget debt approved, therefore an increase in public debt would be expected as from there it is possible to give continuity to the existentialist programs that the government has run and that have led to the success that is achieved in these elections.
At 9F, President Nayib Bukele sat in the Chair of the Assembly President, played the gong and opened the plenary session. / Photo EDH archive
Presidential vetoes can now also be overcome. However, it may not be necessary in this parliamentary term as NI and Gana delegates are expected to respond to the interests of the executive, Rivera said.
“The qualified majority can overcome the presidential vetoes, although it is very unlikely that it will be used, as the majority of delegates are expected to work on the basis of those agreements and projects used by the president of the republic,” warned he.
Two-thirds of the alternates can readily declare the physical or mental unfitness of officials elected by the Assembly, the President or the Vice President.
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While it is true that the qualified majority can endorse constitutional reform, it cannot do so with the harsh clauses that define the system of government and prevent an extension of the presidential term.
The qualified majority can reverse the dollarization, if it wishes, because it has the key to pass reforms to the monetary integration law.
What about projects and exploitation of natural resources?
Yes, the qualified majority can also grant concessions for the exploitation of resources and public works, and can also approve bids for projects and award them to private parties through contracts under the modality of public-private partnerships.
Nayib Bukele on the day he commanded an armed attack on the Legislative Palace. Photo EDH / Archives
“You can authorize state concessions for the exploitation of works for the public interest,” Rivera said.
What does it mean that there is no balance in the legislative body?
“One of the political decisions that we can expect with this new composition of the Legislative Assembly is that second-degree elections are primarily in the interests of the President, that is, all those officials elected by the Legislative Assembly are persons for the purpose or who are willing. are to work based on the agenda that the Executive manages, because we know that the meeting being formed at that time will respond promptly to all interests of the Executive body ”.
Rivera believes that the independence of the legislative body is in jeopardy because the elected deputies have been chosen due to the popularity of the president and will respond to his interests.
“ In this sense, they will be able to enact, reform and repeal secondary laws that do not respond to the interests of the President of the Republic and therefore it becomes vital that citizens can be present to raise their voices so that a balance can be achieved. reached. We have failed to strike a balance in the Assembly, so support will be tremendous for anything the executive is proposing, ”said the lawyer.
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He assured that one of 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, as it is one of the struggles that the executive has had and which caused tension between the two. state organs, as well as the militarization of February 9 in the Blue Palace.
“Now it is almost certain that this loan can be approved to complete and complete the phases that the Executive has handled in a non-transparent manner.”
Rivera explained that there are no legal mechanisms that directly affect between the executive and the legislature, but that decisions inconsistent with what has been established can be reversed by the rulings of the constitutional chamber.
The military, most of them veterans, wore weapons of war, body armor and helmets on 9F 2020 in the Assembly. Photo / archive
The lawyer, who was running for deputy deputy for Vamos, assures that the political panorama in the country is uncertain as total control in the Legislative Assembly has no precedent as it has never been seen before that there was no counterbalance.
“The opposition will not play a relevant role because it will not use its vote to determine important approvals such as the nation’s general budget,” he said.
However, he assured that one of the benefits of this new political scenario is that the Assembly now has the key to change all those situations that have been criticized for years and to make decisions such as lowering salaries or eliminating unnecessary places within the government. meeting.
In this sense, the analyst and academic Óscar Picardo also predicted an Assembly that will only push the button in favor of Bukele and there won’t be much discussion, which is a risk.
“A president strives for a less belligerent meeting. But the risk of full control over the Assembly because it appoints the Supreme Court (CSJ), the Court of Auditors (CCNR), the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) raises democratic concerns that the balance of power is being lost and especially given the The fact that behind New Ideas the figure of a person who is the president rules, not that of a political institution structured on a theoretical, ideological basis, is all Nayib Bukele, ”said Picardo.