Once again reflecting the enduring influence of the United States in this Hemisphere – even in Daniel Ortega country – Eduardo Enríquez of Nicaragua’s La Prensa newspaper compares the Supreme Court nomination process in his country to that in the U.S. – and finds the process in Nicaragua to be badly wanting.
For La Prensa, Eduardo Enríquez writes in part:
“Fate has decreed that the selection of a justice to the Supreme Court of Nicaragua would coincide with the nomination of a justice to the Supreme Court of the United States. This gives Nicaraguans an opportunity to compare both processes and clearly identify the ‘original sin’ that makes our Supreme Court one of the Republic’s most discredited institutional bodies, whereas in the United States, it is one of the most respected.”
Comparing the two systems, Enríquez writes in part:
“When there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court of the United States, the president (and only the president) nominates a candidate he considers the most suitable for his vision (of the president and his party), for the State, for society, etc., to be protected – and so that his vision can be consolidated. The nominee is then subjected to fierce scrutiny in the media – but also in the Senate, which is responsible for ratifying the nomination.”
In Nicaragua, not only the president but the deputies in the National Assembly can nominate judges. Here, parties and the overlords that control them want two things when they nominate Supreme Courts candidates: that the candidate’s loyalty to the overlord is assured, and that the nomination directly benefits the party leadership. … This selection process is the “original sin” of the powers that be in our failed state.”
By Eduardo Enríquez
Translated By Liz Essary
June 1, 2009
Nicaragua – La Prensa – Original Article (Spanish)
Fate has decreed that the selection of a justice to the Supreme Court of Nicaragua would coincide with the nomination of a justice to the Supreme Court of the United States. This gives Nicaraguans an opportunity to compare both processes and clearly identify the “original sin” that makes our Supreme Court one of the Republic’s most discredited institutional bodies, whereas in the United States, it is one of the most respected.
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