In any case, a landmark ruling
The Council of State verdict expected late on Wednesday night will be a landmark whatever the majority of judges decided.
The hearings on the constitutionality of the auction of four national TV licenses is important in itself, as they followed an attempt to prevent them.
They went ahead only after most judges on the court voted against their president’s decision to call off the hearings because of what he called public pressure.
The fact that the majority of judges did not agree with this unprecedented argument abdicating their responsibility was a victory for the institution.
The government had made clear its anxiety over the verdict, even questioning whether a ruling against it would be democratic.
Whatever the result, it is a chance for the government and opposition to show that respect for an independent judiciary trumps political expediency.
