Milei has the decrees of Lijo and García Mansilla for the Court "signed", but the definition is delayed

"It depends on the President ," says a senior official, avoiding giving details about when Javier Milei's decrees, which are " up for signature," would be published to appoint Ariel Lijo and Manuel García Mansilla as new members of the Supreme Court of Justice. But the delay in the process, which until last Friday seemed "closed," has generated some suspicions, taking into account that it has a clear time limit: next Friday.

On Saturday, March 1, the president will open the ordinary sessions of Parliament and the composition of the highest court will once again be the subject of debate in the Senate's Agreements Committee and in the legislative body itself. "If it is not this week, it cannot be done by decree because Congress will restart its activities. But it is, of course, the President's decision," insisted, for his part, one of the political swords of the Executive.

The official caution, however, would seem to be due to a calibrated political strategy after having gone through a week of anxiety due to the so-called crypto scandal , the collapse of the $LIBRA token and the president's link with the financiers in charge of the ill-fated project.

Negotiations with Lijo are being conducted at the Ministry of Justice, where advisor Santiago Caputo is present through the vice-minister, Sebastián Amerio. The ruling party claims to be unaware of the judge's position if the President were to nominate him in commission. "We do not speak on behalf of third parties," they say, close to the president.

Contrary to what he had said until recently, that he would only agree to join the Court after being voted for by the Senate, Lijo is now willing to "evaluate" a possible appointment by decree of the head of state.

In the corridors of Casa Rosada, however, caution prevailed on Monday. No one dared to give details about when the decrees would be published or if there would be a last-minute change. But in the presidential inner circle they know that in an election year and after the setback that the Senate gave to the discussion of Lijo's list - which, unlike the case of García Mansilla, came with the endorsement of the Agreements Commission - it would be unlikely that both candidates would be made official in 2025 by the upper house.

That is why the publication of the decrees to nominate both candidates in commission has been gaining ground in the last week. In addition, the Government is betting on radicalizing its confrontation with the Peronist opposition, which has quietly threatened the Executive with rejecting the nominations of Lijo and García Mansilla if it were decided to name them in commission.

As reported by Clarín , the government's strategy includes putting the judges into office and completing a court that is currently experiencing operational problems , but also pressuring opposition sectors to make a public decision . This is especially true regarding Lijo, who is credited in Balcarce 50 with greater powers of persuasion. However, the judge also arrives with several complaints from NGOs and leaders of forces such as the Radical Party or the Civic Coalition that have questioned his work at the head of the Federal Court No. 4 in the last two decades.

In any case, the Executive is trying to recover the public agenda after the "slap" that, according to Milei himself, was the scandalous case of the crypto $LIBRA. This Monday, in this sense, the presence of two leaders linked to the government from different areas but strongly committed to the so-called "cultural battle" of Mileism was striking: Agustín Laje and Daniel Parisini (alias Gordo Dan).

The writer, who presides over the El Faro Foundation and is preparing to launch training courses for libertarian "cadres", visited the offices of Vocería y Medios led by Manuel Adorni. Meanwhile , the host of the streaming show "Carajo" and frenetic defender of official policies through the social network X visited Santiago Caputo in his office on the first floor, with whom he left the Casa Rosada towards dusk.