When the log-jam seemed as firmly stuck as ever, the news broke in Madrid. Both the Moncloa government palace and the Popular Party headquarters announced this morning that they have reached an agreement to unblock most of the Spanish constitutional bodies whose renewal of members is overdue. These are the Constitutional Court, the Court of Accounts, the Spanish Ombudsman and the Data Protection Agency. That is, almost all, except for the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ). The agreement reached today will materialize in the Congress of Deputies and the Senate at the end of October.
The identical statements issued by the Socialist-led government and the PP explain that the agreement was reached after talks between the minister of the presidency, Félix Bolaños, and the PP secretary general, Teodoro García Egea. Second, they state that the renewal will formally take place in a full session of Congress, probably in the week of October 25th, in both Congress and the Senate. And thirdly, that "the people who will be part of these bodies will be of recognized prestige and consensus" and will be announced in the coming days. Unidas Podemos sources assert that the junior partner of the coalition government also participated in the agreement as part of the executive.
Now it remains to be seen what the judicial cast will be. According to sources on both sides, there has been no talk of names, just the agreement to unblock the renewal.
How it happened
Yesterday, during a parliamentary question session, PP leader Pablo Casado surprised observers by proposing an agreement to renew most of the constitutional bodies pending renewal, almost all of them, with the exception of the General Council of the Judiciary. In response, prime minister Pedro Sánchez called on the PP leader to comply with the Constitution and agree to renew all bodies, including the CGPJ.
However, minister Felix Bolaños took up the challenge, announcing that he would immediately contact the PP. The agreement was reached in just under 24 hours. One meeting between Bolaños and García Egea was enough yesterday afternoon and another this morning to close the deal.
The Council, still to resolve
Meanwhile, the attempt to renew the CGPJ continues without any progress. It will soon be three years since its term expired, and the two major attempts to unblock it have failed miserably. In the same question session in Congress on Wednesday, Pablo Casado insisted that another condition was needed before agreement would be possible: the "depoliticization" of the Council. That is, "judges choose judges," as the PP insist. In recent weeks the PP and PSOE have traded mutual accusation over responsibility for the log-jam.
A month ago, in an unprecedented move, Spain's four associations of judges took a joint stand to pressure for a solution. There are three conservative associations and one progressive group: the former are the Professional Association of the Judiciary, the Francisco de Vitoria Judicial Association, and the Independent Judicial Forum; and the progressive Judges for Democracy group. They denounced the "partisan" use of the issue and advocated a reform of the system for electing CGPJ members.