Mercosur suspended the process of direct election of parliamentarians

The Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay agreed to suspend the direct election of parliamentarians Mercosur, which will now be replaced by national legislators, with the "desire to optimize resources". It bears the signatures of Presidents Mauricio Macri, Jair Bolsonaro, Mario Abdo Benítez and Tabaré Vázquez, and should not be approved by the congresses of their countries.

The announcement made Monday by the Chancellor of Paraguay, Luis Alberto Castiglioni, supposes the indefinite suspension of the election by direct universal suffrage of persons known as "parlasurianos" or "legislators of the Parlasur", which was agreed in 2014 and should be implemented by 2020.

Brazil and Uruguay never came directly to choose the members of Parlasur, which only Argentina and Paraguay did. Therefore, the new agreement comes "to correct the asymmetries", explained the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Infobae.

In Argentina, 43 parliamentary parliamentarians were elected in 2015, many of whom are demanding a diet equivalent to that of national deputies in the country. There is also a proposal of this type before the Mercosur court. If these claims flourished, Argentina (directly or indirectly through the Parlasur budget) would face expenses of more than three million dollars a year. Including retroactive claims, the $ 13 million would be exceeded.

In making this announcement, Castiglioni baderted that the decision of the presidents of the block responded to Parlasur is a "declarative" body whose decisions do not bind its membersIn order to save money, they will replace the "parlasurianos" by deputies or senators who are members of national congresses.

According to the Paraguayan Chancellor, the measure was "negotiated" by the leaders of the four countries for three months and they decided to change the current one. Protocol establishing the Parliament of Mercosur, to allow the new electoral mechanism.

The Paraguayan Minister for Foreign Affairs argued that the ultimate goal was to give Parliament the greatest power of decision in national legislation, since there is currently one entity "declarative", but he acknowledged that "there is no real urgency" to change operation to this end. The decision responds to "the experience lived in recent years, the impossibility of filling"with the agreement of 2014" to hold simultaneous elections in all countries, (…) and with the desire to better prepare for the future of operation "of Parlasur.

"Only until we can perfect the integration mechanisms and combine the functioning of our elections," added the Foreign Minister, adding that "there is not even a project, we are not talking about than a contingency for the future ". Castiglioni also appealed for "savings" that will imply that state coffers cease to rely on their representatives, an estimated expense of about $ 4 million a year.

The amendment of the protocol should not be approved by the national congresses since it was an agreement between the presidents under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.