The urgent definition of the representativeness criterion was defended in Montevideo, during the 15th Ordinary Session of Mercosul Parliament, by the Deputy Germano Bonow (DEM-RS). During the discussion of the so-called Free Subject, on Friday (11/28), he affirmed that the election of new representatives of Brazil will be only possible after the definition of that criterion.

“How long will we wait for the decision about the representativeness of our countries? Many colleges in my country know how difficult it is to explain that we are representatives of Mercosul to the citizens. We always expect the question about who elected us in order to represent them”, said Bonow during the session.

Calendar
According to the Constitution Protocol of the parliament, the decision about the number of seats for each country should have been taken by December 2007. It was then postponed to December 2008, but the decision can be delayed again to 2009, because of the resistance of the caucus of Paraguay, the only country that has already elected his representatives.

So far, each of the four permanent members of the Mercosul Parliament – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – has 18 representatives. Venezuela, which is joining Mercosul now, has 9.

In the beginning of November, the Committee for Budgeting and Internal Subjects decided to suggest to the Governing Board of Mercosul Parliament the elaboration of a debate calendar regarding the adoption of the proportionality criterion.

Paraguay establishes a condition
The criterion for the definition of the number of representatives for each country at the Mercosul Parliament can be submitted to the guarantee of a supranational character for the court for controversy solution of the bloc. This is the condition presented by the Paraguayan representation to join the ongoing negotiations among the other members of the bloc to establish the number of elected representatives for each country.

“There is no inconvenient in discussing that proportionality, but the proposal for the establishment of a Justice Court of Mercosul, whose decisions would be mandatory, should be included in the debate”, said the president of the representation of Paraguay, the congressman González Núñez, in Montevideo.

For Núñez, an agreement among the presidents of the countries belonging to the bloc would be sufficient, so that the court be established in some years. The congressman noted that the existing court has currently no decision power on all territory of Mercosul, and, therefore, cannot effectively solve controversies among member countries.

How would be the distribution
One of the proposals being analyzed, presented by the Brazilian federal deputy, Dr. Rosinha (PT-PR), currently the president of the Parliament, establishes that Brazil would have 75 representatives, while Argentina, 33, and Paraguay and Uruguay would maintain their current 18. Moreover, Venezuela – when its full adhesion to the bloc is confirmed – would count with 27 representatives.

The numbers can change during negotiations. So far, though, Argentina and Uruguay have already shown willingness to discuss the subject. The President of the Argentinean Representation, Senator José Pampuro, said that he wants to define the representativeness criterion “as soon as possible”, so that Argentina can elect its deputies in 2011. He believes, though, that Argentina should count with 44 to 45 representatives, and not with the 33 suggested by Rosinha.

The president of Uruguay’s representation, Deputy Roberto Conde, said that his country will have an official position only after Paraguay adheres to the negotiations. “This is a table for four, but there are only three, so far”, he noted. According to him, though, it will be possible to get to an agreement before the end of March 2009.

If this date is confirmed, Brazilian National Congress will have a little more than one year to regulate the elections for Mercosul representatives, which should occur together with the election for federal deputies, senators, governors and the President of the Republic, in October 2010.

From the newsroom, with Agência Senado
Translation: Positive