The three judges of the Electoral Court responded, in a note, to the request made by the judge of the Supreme Court of Justice, Olmedo Arrocha, who is the rapporteur in the unconstitutionality lawsuit against the candidacy of José Raúl Mulino.

The TE magistrates explain that the decision to enable Mulino as a presidential candidate for the Realizing Goals and Alliance parties was based on article No. 362 of the Electoral Code, which establishes that in the event that the main candidate loses the candidacy, the substitute assumes the application.

In the note, the magistrates explained that they debated whether the condition of substitute established by the Electoral Code also applies to the position of vice president and two of these emerged, in which it prevailed that article 362 is applicable to the vice presidential candidacy.

“According to judges Valdés (Eduardo Valdés Escoffery) and Guerra (Luis Guerra), the authorization of José Raúl Mulino (…) was produced by ‘Ope Legis’, that is, because it was thus established in the law, by the Ministry of the law, in his capacity as substitute for the candidate for the Presidency…”.

The note dated yesterday and which has the signature of the three judges of the Electoral Court (Alfredo Juncá, Valdés and Guerra) is made public one day after Judge Arrocha said, at a press conference, that he was waiting for a response from the Electoral Tribunal regarding information that it had requested from the entity governing the general elections.

Judge Arrocha asked, among other things, if the RM or Alianza parties had made any efforts to nominate Mulino as a candidate for the Presidency.

“…there is no form or documentation to support applications such as the case at hand,” states the note from the Electoral Court sent to Judge Arrocha.

The note from the Electoral Court adds that “the decision to enable José Raúl Mulino as a candidate for president of the Republic, representing the Realizing Goals and Alliance parties, was a decision of the plenary session of the Electoral Court…”.

Mulino was appointed candidate for the vice presidency of the Republic by Ricardo Martinelli, who was chosen by the Realizing Goals party as a candidate for the Presidency, however, the Electoral Court disqualified him as a result of the sentence of 10 years and eight months for the crime. of money laundering.

The plenary session of the Electoral Tribunal, through Agreement 11-1 of March 4, 2024, disqualifies Martinelli and at the same time decides that Mulino is the candidate for the Presidency for both parties.

The Agreement of the plenary session of the Electoral Tribunal was sued as unconstitutional before the Supreme Court of Justice.