MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina's Upper House okays Supreme Curt enlargement

Opposition Senator Naidenoff was confident the bill would not make it through the House of Deputies

Argentina's Senate Thursday passed the bill to enlarge the Supreme Court from 5 to 15 judges. The bill now passes on to the Lower House for further parliamentary treatment.

The bill, which has been promoted by the ruling Frente de Todos coalition, was approved with 36 votes in favor and 33 against 33 negative votes.

Making the decisive difference were Senators Clara Vega from La Rioja, Alberto Weretilneck from Río Negro, and Magdalena Solari Quintana from Misiones, according to parliamentary affairs analysts.

Speeches from FdT lawmakers insisted on the need to increase the number of judges because decisions from the highest court could not be “left in the hands of only four people” whose moral capacity has also been questioned.

“Of the four members of the Court today, two define absolutely everything, they vote for themselves. Is this the Court we want? We have to have another one, not for us, but for democracy and for the government that will be elected in 2023″, said Senator Oscar Parrilli who, minutes later, sentenced: ”We have a Court [where judges are] at odds with each other. Two of them accepted to be appointed by decrees, they denounce each other. Of the four members, two define everything and vote for themselves,“ he said about Justices Carlos Rosenkrantz and Horacio Rosatti who were appointed under former President Mauricio Macri. ”Of the members of the Court, three are mafiosi and one is corporative, he defends corporate interests“, about Rosenkrantz.

For her part, Senator Juliana Di Tullio said that ”this Court has to be expanded because it has to be self-controlled and because it is the only way for it to be more democratic, to be seriously independent and to be federal“. ”We believe that expanding the Court benefits the people,” she added.

UCR Senator Luis Naidenoff of the opposition Juntos por el Cambio (JxC) coalition insisted the FdT knew the bill will not make it through the Lower House.

“The Judiciary is highly questioned and we need it to be reliable, but we have a problem, the Court feels a superior power. Besides, you cannot continue with this game of caprice because we cannot advance in our work,” Senator José Mayans argued.