The challenges of Mario Xocoy, the candidate who assumes the CGC on an interim basis

Facilitating the way for allies for the 2023 elections and blocking opposition candidacies is the risk of having a Comptroller General of Accounts (CGC) without leadership and independence, according to analysts.

Responsibility will fall from today and indefinitely on Mario Francisco Xocoy, until yesterday deputy comptroller of Integrity who assumes the leadership of the CGC on an interim basis. Xocoy is one of the 33 professionals competing for a place on the list of candidates to lead the CGC, in the process that is currently underway.

Xocoy is an accountant and auditor graduated from the University of San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC), he also has a master’s degree in tax consulting from the same university.

He has experience in private initiative and his career at the CGC has led him to occupy the heads of the delegations of Chimaltenango and Huehuetenango, departmental head of auditing and has been sector director, according to his resume.

But his responsibilities as of today and while Congress appoints the new comptroller, will be more than just leading the institution and continuing with the administrative processes, since assumes at a decisive moment for democracy by issuing settlements for the 2023 elections.

“Suddenly this could be a strategy that some interested in keeping these groups within the CGC can use to facilitate or block the extension of these documents”said a source specializing in auditing who prefers not to be quoted for security reasons.

Although the Nominating Commission has already begun its operations and they expect to deliver a list of six candidates for Congress on October 28, the timing of the Congress election is still uncertain.

“If there are professionals on the payroll who meet the requirements of the interested parties, we will see an ‘express’ election, but if we see independent professionals, who will not be managed, I am almost certain that the election of the Comptroller will take place after the registration of candidateshighlighted the source.

They recommend objectivity

The Nominating Commission for the election of the new Comptroller plans to deliver the list of candidates to Congress at the end of this month according to the schedule, but the speed or slowness with which the final election is held will weigh on the congressmen.

For this reason, in the opinion of Mynor Lorenzo, an analyst at Guatemala Visible, the current deputy comptroller needs to be clear about the institution’s guidelines and focus on doing objective work.

“Its main challenge is to maintain institutional stability and continue with audits and supervision with a view to the end of the 2022 fiscal period and before the proximity of the 2023 general elections. It is important to remember the important role that the Comptroller’s Office plays in the process. electoral, since it extends the settlements to the people who will seek to be candidates next year, mainly in those current authorities who will seek their re-election”, he highlighted.

For her part, Carmen Aída Ibarra, director of Movimiento Pro Justicia, fears that the delays in the integration and swearing-in of the Postulator will take its toll with political attacks to prevent the future participation of some citizens in future elections.

“The use of the Comptroller’s Office as a lethal weapon against candidates is not resolved the day someone is going to ask for a severance pay, all of that is already taking shape. There are decisions that in principle the auditors make, although it is presumed that they are independent, they always receive pressure from the highest levels of the hierarchy”, Ibarra commented.

The academy responds

The Nomination Commission for a new Comptroller is directed by a rector elected by the Forum of Rectors, an institution that affirms that the delays seen in this type of process are not the responsibility of the academy.

Even the current president of the Commission and the Forum of Rectors themselves asked the Board of Directors of Congress to be sworn in earlier so as not to delay the appointment, but they never received a response from the congressmen.

“The universities have always been on time in fulfilling their role as the nomination commissions, the rectors are summoned by the Congress of the Republic in most cases and the deadlines are met,” explained Eugenia Rosales, secretary of the Rectors Forum.

Rosales added that based on his experience, he has seen how this type of process has setbacks due to the imposition of legal actions that prevent a more fluid work schedule.

“I think that many of the delays are sometimes due to the filing of legal resources due to the disagreement of some sector, so in what is resolved, the deadlines of an Application Commission tend to be delayed”he pointed.

If everything goes as planned by the Commission, this Friday they will end with the reception of files and next Monday they will be evaluating who met the requirements and who did not, so that on the same Tuesday, October 4, the professionals who were removed from the contest.

Salazar period

Edwin Salazar was elected by the Congress of the Republic to lead the CGC for the period 2018 to 2022. Like his successor, he took office late. The Legislative Body did not meet the constitutional deadlines and the renewal of the Comptroller’s office began out of time.

According to Salazar’s latest work report, shared on the CGC website, his mandate was marked by institutional strengthening, where he sought to combat the perception of opacity and institutional corruption.

Among its main achievements, five stand out: modernizing government control processes, innovation and technology, favoring a human resources policy, adopting an ethical culture and achieving a good international position.