Marianella Ledesma Narváez is the elected president of the Constitutional Court for the period 2020 – 2021. This makes the lawyer the first woman to take office. The magistrate will perform duties with her new vice president, magistrate Augusto Ferrero.
With four votes in favor, Ledesma’s candidacy was successful after being proposed by Augusto Ferrero himself. Among the votes in favor is that of Ernesto Blume, current president of the Constitutional Court (TC), with José Luis Sardón and Ledesma’s vote, too.
Her candidacy has been very controversial for being a key character in the opposition leader’s release, Keiko Fujimori. As recalled, the magistrate gave an opinion on the case during the appeal and mentioned that she is openly anti-Fujimorist, so her neutrality was questioned during the appellation process carried out before the habeas corpus petition filed by the detainee’s sister. Likewise, the lawyer was one of the votes against the still questioned release of the former presidential candidate.
Ledesma has been appointed as a magistrate by the Constitutional Court in 2014. She is a lawyer graduated from the Universidad Mayor de San Marcos and holds a Ph.D. in Law and Political Science from her alma mater. She is also recognized as the daughter of former United Left senator Genaro Ledesma.