DOUGLAS GAVRAS
Buenos Aires, PE (Folhapress)-After the Senate overthrowing his candidacy last week and without support among his peers, Manuel García-Mansilla, one of the judges of the Argentine Supreme Court nominated by decree by Javier Milei, resigned on Monday (7).
In February, Milei had appointed two occupants to the Supreme, while the senators were in recess. In addition to García-Mansilla, Ariel Lijo was nominated, but both faced difficulties for approval due to the minority of Milei’s coalition in the house.
On Thursday (3), while Milei was abroad to receive a prize of republican organizations in the United States, the senators barred the two candidacies, something that had not occurred since the return of democracy to the country, more than four decades ago.
At other times, realizing that the nominee would not be approved, the president was back in the appointment, but Milei kept the nominations to the end. Lijo was rejected by 43 votes, had 27 in favor and an abstention; García-Mansilla was vetoed by 51 senators and supported by 20.
At the time, Casa Rosada repudiated the senators’ decision and said they had last year to analyze their nominations. Milei’s office had justified nominations as essential for the operation of the court, which could not operate with only three judges. The court is now operating again with Horacio Rosatti, Carlos Rosenkrantz and Ricardo Lorenzetti.
The appointment, especially from Lijo, who was already a federal judge, generated controversy due to an accusation of conspiracy, in a lawsuit involving in 2014 the vice-president at the time, beloved Boudou, by crime of passive corruption.
He also faces accusations of money laundering and illicit enrichment. According to an ACIJ (Civil Association for Equality and Justice) report, the most reported to the Judiciary Council is among the judges
The decision to name it surprised even the supporters of Milei, who in his campaign in 2023 and over the first year of his term maintained a discourse to combat the Argentine political elite, whom he calls caste.
García-Mansilla’s case was also delicate, as he had taken office in the Supreme and was trying to stay in office through an internal articulation. The opposition stated that his permanence was unconstitutional. Against him, he also weighed a precautionary measure that prevented him from making decisions in court for three months, signed by Judge Alejo Ramos Padilla.
The government argued that it could only be dismissed with impeachment, but the opposition argued that, because it was rejected by the Senate, it should leave the court immediately
In a seven -page letter directed to Milei, the magistrate wrote that he had accepted the appointment with the conviction that the lack of integration into the Supreme was a major institutional problem and that this demanded an urgent solution.
“There were two vacancies in the Supreme Court, which has been reduced to three people since December 2024,” he wrote. “It is surprising that, despite the importance and weight that each judge has in a reduced formation, the existence of vacant places had been naturalized for such a prolonged period.”
García-Mansilla also wrote that it was a mistake to think that the Supreme can operate with only three judges. “This can cause greater damage than caused by the delay in approving nominations to the court.”
