El Salvador, a small country in Central America, is facing a Constitutional Crisis caused by a power struggle between the National Assembly and the Constitutional Court.

The crisis started this year when FMLN (the left party that won the presidential elections in 2009) in an alliance with minority parties attempted to rush through the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court before the new National Assembly (in which FMLN had lost legislative majority) took office in May.

This in not the first time  this has happened in El Salvador. In 2006 when the right wing party ARENA had legislative majority, they did the same thing, electing judges twice in the same legislative period.

The Constitutional Court in June ruled that the 2006 and 2012 elections were unconstitutional and ordered new elections for 15 judges and their alternates. The Constitutional Court clearly stated that it is unconstitutional for an outgoing legislature to name justices to serve under the next session.

Despite this, the National Assembly was not willing to accept this verdict; they appealed to the Regional Central American Court of Justice, even though it has no authority to decide on El Salvador’s constitutional questions, which ruled  in favor of the National Assembly.

This led to several protests from the different organizations of the civil society that organized themselves in a movement called #Yomevistodeblanco (I dress myself in white) to express their indignation for the National Assembly’s actions against the Supreme Court.

Even with all the pressure, FMLN and the allied parties are not willing to repeal the judge’s election and stated that the Regional Central American Court of Justice has authority to decide over El Salvador’s constitutional matters.

This Monday a syndicalist group took over the Supreme Court building to guarantee that, although their election has been declared illegal by the Constitutional Court, the judges elected by the General Assembly were able to take office. The new judges elected by the General Assembly even had to use a locksmith to open the President of the Supreme Court office and some other areas of the building. The police officers that were near the area did not do anything to try to stop these actions.

The newly elected by the General Assembly, but declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court, president of the Supreme Court, Ovidio Bonilla, was presented to a group of people by the president of the National Assembly Sigfrido Reyes (FMLN) and other members of the National Assembly from political party allies of FMLN.

ARENA is the only political party that is against the National Assembly election of the judges and supports the Constitutional Court rulings that declared the 2006 and 2012 elections unconstitutional, even though in the 2006 election they were the ones who had legislative majority. They recently announced they don’t recognize Ovidio Bonilla as the president of the Supreme Court, based on the Constitutional Court’s Ruling.

The US Senate is also concerned with El Salvador’s situation. The Republican Florida Senator Marco Rubio said that the United States does not have the obligation to continue collaborating with a country that is violating its own Constitution and its own laws, which were achieved by the Salvadorian people with great sacrifice. The Senator warned that they have to check their help programs, like the Millennium Challenge Account from which El Salvador has received more than $400 million, because they are only intended for countries that are achieving progress in their democracies.

The situation is critical, with two separate groups of judges claiming to be the country’s lawful Supreme Court, but only one is the legitimate one; the Salvadorian crisis is similar to the one suffered in Nicaragua when the Sandinistas took over the Supreme Court.

Image Courtesy of   MINEX GUATEMALA

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August 1^st will be a decisive day for Long Islanders. A vote will be held regarding the possible rebuilding of the Nassau Coliseum, home of hockey’s New York Islanders, and the general redevelopment of the area.

On May 31^st the Nassau County (New York) Legislature held a meeting to decide whether or not to let county residents vote at all on the proposed $400 million dollar project, a meeting that culminated with a positive decision for residents, putting the choice in their hands.

Rallys had recently been held in support of the referendum. Understandably, residents, union workers and business men and women around the area want the choice to be theirs rather than solely up to the Islanders owner Charles Wang and other county legislators.

However, Wang was the person who first brought this plan to fruition. The proposal offers not only a brand new state of the art arena for the Islanders, but also will include the construction of a minor league baseball field nearby in the same complex. Rumors have also floated around that should this vote pass, a casino will be built in the area as well.

The initial thought is that $400 million dollars is a ton of money to be spending during such a harsh economic climate, especially on a hockey team that hasn’t produced much success, either financially or athletically, in over a decade.

Though this is true, residents should think further into the future, after these arenas are built, and look for the positives in the project.

Thousands upon thousands of jobs will be created both in the construction of these buildings, and the everyday operations of them after they are finished. In such a time when finding jobs is difficult in any place, people should not quickly turn a blind eye to such an investment without serious thought.

The project could prove to be a real boost to the overall economy of the entire county. A new stadium would bring much revenue to business in the surrounding areas. At the very least it would send more traffic through the area, and for the most part, people equal money.

Should this vote fail, the belief is that the Islanders will be forced to move out of Uniondale. Possible rumored locations include Queens, Brooklyn, and possibly out of state destinations such as Kansas City. If the Islanders are gone, the Coliseum will undoubtedly go vacant, and cause not only a loss of jobs and revenue, but create an unused eyesore for the community, a reminder of what once was the pride of Long Island.

August 1^st, 2011 may indeed be a day that goes down in infamy, with the future of Long Island waning in the balance, no matter the outcome of the vote. Residents are urged to take a side on the project in the coming months and go to the polls so they can have their hand in shaping not only the home of one of their beloved sports teams, but their home as well.

The article Hockey’s New York Islanders, Long Island Will Vote on Possible Big Changes appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.