The drama of the jurisdiction: when asking for leave is like leaving the stage
Politics is theater, and in Sinaloa they have just lowered the curtain on a key event. Governor Rubén Rocha asked for a license, Congress approved it, and the question that everyone is asking immediately arose: is he still protected by the jurisdiction?
Arturo Zaldívar, the coordinator of Politics and Government of the Presidency, came out to put things in order. And boy did he do it with surgical clarity.
“Procedural immunity, incorrectly called ‘fuero’, is a guarantee for a certain category of public servants to prevent them from being criminally prosecuted without the Chamber of Deputies issuing a declaration of origin that lifts procedural immunity under the terms of article 111 of the Constitution,” he explained.
But here comes what really matters: what happens when you take a break from office?
“The ‘jurisprudence’ protects the function, not the person. Whoever obtains a license no longer exercises the function, therefore, they can be detained like any other person, since they no longer enjoy procedural immunity. There are precedents of the Federal Judiciary in this sense,” added Zaldívar.
Spanish translation of the street: if you ask for a license, you become an ordinary citizen. Without protective layer. Without legal shield.
This applies to both Rocha and the mayor of Culiacán, Juan de Dios Gámez Díaz, who also requested a license. The move is clear: when you leave your position, the jurisdiction stays in the office.
The debate is not new, but it gains strength amid the accusations surrounding the Sinaloan governor. Coincidence? In politics, coincidences are almost never coincidences.
What Zaldívar made clear is that there are no half measures: license = no immunity. Spot. Now the ball is in the court of those who want to make a move.
