The Brazilian vice-president of the Mercosul Parliament (Parlasul), Deputy Dr. Rosinha (PT-PR), said that the Paraguayan caucus is boycotting the definition of representativity criteria for each country at the parliament from 2011. On Thursday (5), he participated in a meeting on the subject in Buenos Aires.

Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay have currently each 18 representatives at that institution. From January first, 2011, each country should have a specifically elected caucus for Parlasul, which should be proportional to their population. According to the Brazilian bill, Brazil would have 75 members, Argentina, 33, and Paraguay and Uruguay, 18 each. Venezuela, which still needs to be officially integrated to Mercosul, would have 27 representatives.

Dr. Rosinha reminded that the bill needs the support of more than half of the caucus of each of the four countries of Mercosul. According to him, the position of the Paraguayan government – which does not present any alternative nor says if it accepts the suggestion of Brazil – can hamper the choice of the Brazilian representatives in Parlasul at the 2010 elections.

"It is a nonsense resistance, since the proportionality is provided for at the protocol which constitutes Parlasul. What they are doing is a kind of boycott to the other countries, such as Brazil – which needs to know the amount of representatives to elaborate the electoral law of 2010”, he argued.

Anniversary

Dr. Rosinha also said that, due to the problem with the Paraguayan government, the next meeting of Parlasul, on the 16th and 17th, will not be in Asuncion, as expected, but in Montevideo. They had expected to hold the meeting at the Paraguayan capital, to commemorate the 18-year anniversary of the Asuncion Treaty, which established the bases for Mercosul.

The deputy evaluated that, despite the difficulties, those 18 years deserve a commemoration. “Mercosul is known as an international bloc, with political and economic negotiation capacity. In addition to that, it acquired an important social feature in the last years. For instance, if a worker of whatever country of the bloc works in another one, that legal activity, if he contributes to social security, will count as retirement time. Thus, Mercosul has been advancing”, he highlighted.

Last month, the Paraguayan Ignácio Mendoza was elected President of Parlasul for a six-month mandate.

Report - Alexandre Pôrto/Rádio Câmara
Editing - João Pitella Junior/Rejane Xavier
Translation - Positive Idiomas Ltda