The lack of renovation in the Brazilian representation can delay the reopening of works at Mercosur Parliament (Parlasul). The current president of the parliament, the Paraguayan Ignacio Mendoza Unzain, has sent an official letter summoning all Parlasul members to a session to be held on Monday (28), in Montevideo. But the session shall be suspended, as the terms of office of the Brazilian Representation members ended on December 31st 2010, according to Resolution 1/07, of the National Congress.

According to the Parlasul Rules, the parliament sessions and the meetings of its committees can only began with the attendance of at least a third of its members, “on which shall be represented all Member States”. That is, the session can only be open with the presence of parliament members of the four countries of the block – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.  While the nomination of the new representation members does not take place, a Parlasul session cannot be held.

New resolution of the Congress
The new members of the Brazilian Representation at Parlasul can only be nominated after the approval of a new resolution by the Congress. This resolution shall determine that the terms of office of the new integrants last until the direct elections for the parliament are carried out. According to established in a political agreement signed last year at the parliament, the number of the representation members will change from 18 to 37. According to this agreement, Argentina will count on 26 representatives from this year, while Paraguay and Uruguay will maintain their 18 representatives per country.

Former member of the representation, the senator Inácio Arruda believes that the delay in the representation members’ nomination can be explained by the fact that the members of the parliament are still busy filling the Chamber and Senate permanent committees. For him, there won’t be political difficulty in approving the resolution that will increase the number of the representation members and grant them new terms of office.

The 37 new representation members shall be exercising their terms of office in Brazil. The number of senators and deputies is not decided yet.

The rules for the direct elections for Parlasul, expected to happen in 2012, shall be determined by a new law. It is conducted in the Chamber the PL 5279/09, of deputy Carlos Zarattini, which will be analyzed by the committees of Foreign Affairs and National Defense; of Finance and Taxation; of Constitution and Justice and Citizenship. Then it will be sent to the Plenary.