Attacks on the citizen initiative – Ataques a la iniciativa ciudadana

The citizen initiative to reform justice has begun to receive a series of attacks from the ruling party because it sees its control of the Judicial Branch threatened.

Within this framework, the National Council of Ayllus and Markas of Qullasuyo (Conamaq) has rejected the initiative with the fallacious argument that it seeks to give a “judicial blow to democracy and the rights of indigenous peoples.”

In reality, the current manipulation of justice is what allows the government of Luis Arce to deal constant blows to democracy, by allowing it to imprison opponents, persecute the innocent, and free criminals. And, regarding the supposedly violated rights, it must be said that, in the current model, it is not the people who choose magistrates, but the MAS is the one who appoints them with its legislative majority that is later endorsed at the polls.

Another official who came out to attack the citizens’ initiative is former magistrate Orlando Ceballos, who, it must be remembered, continues to defend the human right of Evo Morales to perpetuate himself in power, despite the fact that the Inter-American Court ruled against it. “We tell them that they are hypocritical politicians, that things go very badly for them, that all the misfortunes that can happen to them happen to them because they are attacking a legal system that has brought more social justice and more inclusion in this State and in favor and for the benefit of the people”, said.

Judging by his expressions and by the servile conception that he has of justice, it seems that Ceballos has not attended university, and even less does he seem to be a former magistrate who is speaking. Precisely because the Judicial Branch is in the hands of servile citizens like Ceballos, an urgent reform is needed.

And those who have come to the fore with an enveloping strategy are the Minister of Justice, Iván Lima, and the president of the TSJ, Ricardo Torres, who speak of the need for a Constituent Assembly because the justice reform is structural. That is the same as saying “we will not do anything” because the call for a Constituent Assembly can take years, it will lead to opening the entire Magna Carta, it will once again entangle the country in a succession of aimless electoral processes. Or does anyone believe that the Government and the TSJ want judicial reform when they have been evading it for years? They only seek the failure of the citizen initiative, that’s why they go out to distract with their idea of a Constituent Assembly.

What remains, in the face of this onslaught, is for more citizens to sign the books. Until yesterday there were more than 200,000 registered, but 1.5 million are needed, so the goal is still far away.