This week will be decisive for the Congress of the Republic. Two dates will mark the course of the Legislative: On Tuesday, May 13, when a session suspended due to lack of quorum must be resumed, and on Thursday 15, when the period of ordinary sessions closes.
Attention is set on the resolution of the Constitutional Court (CC), which ordered to repeat the suspended plenary session On April 29.
According to the ruling, the deputies had to resume the agenda exactly where it waswhich meant again to know a motion presented by the deputy Elmer Palencia, of the party all.
The next session was already summoned for Tuesday 13 at 14.00 hoursbut it will not be a simple day. In the last attempt, on May 8, the lack of quorum forced to suspend the plenarydespite three calls for assistance and claims of various banks.
Struggle for control
The intentions of the opposition blocks, headed by the deputies Allan Rodríguez (Vamos), Felipe Alejos (all) and Álvaro Arzú Escobar (Unionista)It is to advance in its agenda before the closing of the ordinary period.
According to the congressmen of various benches, among their objectives are:
- Appoint your representative before the Monetary Board
- Place an related deputy in the first Secretariat of the Board of Directorsreplacing Karina Paz
- Assume control of key commissions such as finance and energy and mines.
The president of Congress, Nery Ramoshas denounced that some blocks were looking for “Take assault” the Board of Directorswhile opposition deputies filed the amparo before the CC for considering that They were blocking the exercise of their functions.
On May 9, when trying to comply with the resolution of the Court, Ramos suspended the session before the Impossibility of reaching the minimum of 81 deputies present.
Although the electronic board marked between 79 and 82 present, several congressmen denounced “Bicot” and blocking access to the legislatureas well as Assistance system manipulation.
Cross statements
The deputy Samuel Pérez (Seed) celebrated that the CC failure has prevented “An attempt to take political control by force” and described as a “failure” The movements of Deputy Rodríguez.
According to Pérez, the amparo It no longer has matterso the pending session “It has no political sense”.
For his part, Rodríguez denounced that they were “Bicoteados” To prevent them from reaching the quorum, ensuring that some deputies were prevented from entering. Affirmed: “They wanted to block access and still some managed to strain to achieve the majority and continue with the session.”.
In turn, the deputy Inés Castillo (UNE) He said there was “Board manipulation” and asked that the conflict solve politically within the plenary.
Relegated topics
Meanwhile, other important issues have been pause, among them the cancellation of the salary increase that the deputies themselves were approved weeks ago.
Although several banks promised to reverse that benefit, The confrontation for political control has relegated this discussion and may not advance before the legislative break.
What comes on Thursday?
Thursday, June 13 is the last day of the ordinary session period. That day expires the deadline for Congress to designate The three secretaries of the Permanent Commissionwhich will be responsible for maintaining some functions of the legislative during the recess.
In the current Board of Directors, only the vice presidents continue, so there are expectation about who will assume those key positions.
The closure of the period thus becomes The last scenario to define power quotas and profile the correlation of forces for the second semester of the legislative year.