Some senators who appear to be loyal factotums of the former and now detained president had openly manifested their partiality in favor of the impeached vice president. It is well to note that the articles of impeachment was filed during the previous congress but the impeachment trial never happened as the consistent ad hominem to attack the inaction of congress over the previous impeachment complaints filed before the lower house. The explanation is cyclic to buttress the senate president’s position that there is no reason to hurry him now in the same manner that the lower house did not hurry to bring the impeachment complaint against the now impeached vice president.
While the senate has not yet started the impeachment trial, two senators who are long-time loyalists to the former and now detained president, took the floor to move for the dismissal of the impeachment complaint. The motion to dismiss was purportedly based on the defective impeachment complaint and the alleged violation of the constitutional provision that allows only one impeachment complaint in a year. The motion seeks the dismissal of the impeachment complaint without trial.
It was followed by a lengthy discussion on the purported violation of the one-year bar rule that was interrupted by contrary discussion of the minority on the necessity to start the impeachment trial. The discussion was again interrupted by a privileged motion of the magical president’s sister. The discussion which begun on the construction of the word forthwith turned to be a display personal interpretation by each grandstanding senator.
These non-lawyer senators had the gall to discuss legal matters, chiefly the construction of the constitution. They act as if they are better than the lawyers in the senate and the legal luminaries that were invited as resource persons to shed light on the issue of dismissing the articles of impeachment without trial. These supposed senator-judges are to comport themselves with the cold neutrality of a judge.
Unfortunately, they have acted as defense lawyers of the impeached vice president. They keep on arguing that the articles of impeachment is defective and was filed in violation of the constitution. Their conclusion was made without giving the prosecutors the opportunity to explain the issues regarding the questions raised by the biased senator-judges. Another senator who is self-righteous and so assuming argues using the national language that the impeachment is dividing the country and an embarrassment thus the same has to be dismissed.
It is well to remind these senator-judges that their posturing as defense lawyers of the impeached vice president is an unlawful practice of the legal profession. People know that in our country, the practice of any profession requires formal education and license. The person in pursuit of his chosen study and grandstanding non-lawyer senators taking turns with their motion to dismiss the articles of impeachment is pure and simple malpractice.
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