Q COSTA RICA — Laura Fernández announced the cancellation of the meeting scheduled for this Friday with the heads of the Legislative Assembly and the Supreme Court, after the Chief Justice, Orlando Aguirre Gómez, on Thursday, publicly announced that he would not attend.
The meeting was to take place this Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. at Casa Presidencial and was also to be attended by the President of the Legislative Assembly, Yara Jiménez.
Among his arguments, Aguirre stated that the proposed mechanism for the meeting was “inconvenient” because the meeting should be a space for sharing common problems, information, and coordinating efforts, not for setting deadlines and evaluating the Judiciary.
“Given the refusal of the President of the Supreme Court of Justice to establish a channel of dialogue to resolve urgent security issues, the meeting of the heads of the Supreme Powers, originally scheduled for this Friday, is suspended,” reads the statement issued by the Presidency.
Security Roadmap
President Fernández had stated that the meeting was convened to define a roadmap for security matters. The president announced that the meeting would be broadcast live on social media as a way to “guarantee transparency.”
Aguirre had already stated that he considered it essential to resume dialogue between branches of government, but that this would take place under conditions of respect for jurisdiction, in good faith, and with clear rules.
Meanwhile, President Fernández had acknowledged that the meeting would be held amidst a “tense” situation.
The relationship between the judiciary and Fernández had been strained since the President took office in May, with the situation escalating when Fernández and her administration sharply accused four justices from the Constitutional Chamber (Sala Cuarta) of attempting a “coup d’etat”.
The conflict began when the court ruled to temporarily extend the terms of substitute justices to keep the judiciary running smoothly. The executive branch and the ruling Partido Pueblo Soberano (PPSO) claimed this move sidestepped the Legislative Assembly’s sole authority to appoint magistrates, pushing political tensions to an unprecedented level.