Those held this Tuesday have yielded the same balance of power that was already reflected by the consulting body formed in the time of Dolores Delgado, according to provisional results. The Association of Prosecutors (AF) – the majority in the prosecutor’s career – has renewed its six seats, while the Professional and Independent Association of Prosecutors (APIF) has kept the one it had, thereby maintaining the critical majority that they have between them. For its part, the Progressive Union of Prosecutors (UPF), chaired by the current attorney general, has managed to retain the two positions it had.
The Fiscal Council is made up of 12 members: the three ex-officio members – who are the attorney general; the lieutenant prosecutor of the Supreme Court; María Ángeles Sánchez Conde; and the head of the Tax Inspection, María Antonia Sanz Gaite― plus the nine electives. The latter are the ones selected in this vote. Each association can aspire to a maximum of six and non-associated prosecutors who present 45 endorsements can also attend. On this occasion, there were 15 candidates on the ballots: six from the AF, the same number from UPF and three from the APIF. Voters could only choose six in a kind of open list system.
Those who have received the most votes have been the six AF candidates: Ana López (1,355), Esther Moreno (1,253), José Francisco Ortiz (1,253), Macarena Ortiz (1,242), Alberto Rodríguez (1,142 votes) and Javier Ródenas (1,085). Behind, at a great distance, was the member who had already been representing the APIF in the Fiscal Council, the anti-corruption prosecutor Teresa Gálvez, with 516 votes. At the tail end are the two members of UPF: Víctor Castells, with 428 votes, and Fernando Germán Benítez, with 413.
Outside the Fiscal Council are the other four candidates from the UPF – Jesús Dacio Arteaga, Yaiza Betancor, María Luisa Ordóñez and María Teresa Vicente – and the other two proposed by the APIF, its president, Miguel Pallarés, and the prosecutor of the National Court Vicente González Mota.
The Fiscal Council is the only body that directly elects the career, made up of about 2,800 prosecutors, hence participation is usually high. This time it stood at 74.94%, a figure similar to that recorded in previous elections, which was 78.64%. And this despite the fact that, according to tax sources consulted by EL PAÍS, it was expected to fall significantly as a way to show the “disillusionment” with the situation that the Prosecutor’s Office is going through after revealing secrets of Alberto González Amador, boyfriend of the Madrid president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
Although the objective is to form the advisory body, these elections are usually read in a plebiscitary way because each attorney general usually lives one in his mandate. In the case of Peramato, they have coincided with the start of the same but have occurred just after , which critics have interpreted as a clear message that, despite the investigation and subsequent conviction of his predecessor, he will follow a continuous line.
AF talks about punishment vote
The last elections were held on May 4, 2022, with Delgado at the head of the State Attorney General’s Office. It came from a Fiscal Council elected in the times of Julián Sánchez Melgar ―appointed by the Government of Mariano Rajoy―, which had five members from the AF and four from the UPF. , with six members from the AF and one from the APIF – the minority –, which for the first time achieved a seat on the Fiscal Council. The other two elective members were for UPF, which reduced its presence by half. These results “reflect the exhaustion of the race” with Delgado, said then the president of the Association of Prosecutors, Cristina Dexeus.
Four years later, the prosecutors have voted to maintain the balance of power designed then, which involves granting control of the Fiscal Council to critical members. “The institution must take note of the will of the race, which makes it clear that it is not in accordance with the management of the last three attorneys general of the State,” said the president of the AF, in a first assessment of the elections. In his opinion, the result also shows the majority support for the “serious and continued work of the AF in defense of the rights of prosecutors, the impartiality of the institution and the rule of law.” “It shows that the AF is transversal and responds to the concerns of many sectors of prosecutors,” he highlighted.
The majority association is the only one that has met its expectations: it aspired to the maximum quota and has maintained it. In APIF the bet was also high because, being the minority association, it sought a representation of three members, which has remained only one. At UPF they were equally “optimistic”, launching a shortlist of six candidates, although the sources consulted lowered the objective, drawing a range that went from three members, in the best scenario, to zero, in the most pessimistic.
As things stand, Peramato will face the same level of opposition that Delgado and García Ortiz faced in a body designed as an advisor but also as a counterweight to the attorney general. The head of the public ministry must listen to him but can distance himself from the majority will, except in rare exceptions such as in matters of incompatibilities or disciplinary and merit files. For example, in a key matter, such as discretionary appointments, the opinion of the Fiscal Council is mandatory but not binding.
The final results, with the counting completed of both the in-person vote that has been done in the 77 electoral sections and the vote by mail, will be known on May 27. The current Fiscal Council will continue until June 30, when its nine elective members will pass the baton to those selected this Tuesday, opening a new stage.
