Policy
Congress approves Q14 billion budget increase proposed by the Executive
By a qualified majority, deputies of the Congress of the Republic approved a budget increase of Q14,451 million requested by the government of Bernardo Arévalo.
The deputies of the Congress of the Republic approved a budget increase of more than Q14 billion. (Photo Prensa Libre: Juan Diego González)
The questioning of the Minister of the Interior, Francisco Jiménez, was interrupted by a privileged motion that opened the opportunity for 110 deputies to support the budget increase that Bernardo Arévalo’s government had been expecting for months.
Deputy Luis Colindres, through a privileged motion, interrupted the impeachment against the Minister of the Interior and gave way to a longer than normal voting event, which allowed the political operators of the ruling party to obtain the qualified majority to dispense with the opinion of the extension and move it from national urgency.
In the first call, 99 deputies voted in favour of the budget increase and from then on it took more than 30 minutes for the board to move again and add two more votes. In the midst of this, some parliamentarians asked for the vote to be closed and the failed attempt to be confirmed and others, such as the president of the Legislative Assembly, Nery Ramos, did not leave the telephone.
Deputies such as Jairo Flores, from Voluntad, Oportunidad y Solidaridad (VOS), stated on social media that he did not support the expansion because there were “pockets of corruption” in the distribution of funds for municipal projects; in addition, the Finance Committee had noted other problems with the proposal, which deserved further discussion.
Finally, the ruling party obtained 110 votes and approved the extension, increasing the spending ceiling by Q14,451 million.
The funds
One of the operators of the extension was the deputy of Cabal, Luis Aguirre, the same one who altered the order of the day.
In statements last week he acknowledged that “the extension will be necessary, even to meet the salaries of all the people who work in the Government by the end of the year.”
Legislative sources also acknowledged that district deputies were the ones who most supported the increase in spending due to the dissatisfaction among mayors over the lack of funding for projects.
The government initially requested the extension for Q14,451 million; however, there was never a consensus to approve it in the Finance Commission.
Among the arguments against was the Executive’s lack of capacity to execute the requested budget in a few months.
One of the recommendations of the majority of the deputies in the Commission was that modifications be made in the 2025 fiscal year, which should be announced next September.
Between doubts
The plenary session began with the questioning of the Minister of the Interior, Francisco Jiménez, who responded to question three of 20 posed by Deputy Sandra Jovel.
At that point, Creo Party deputy Luis Contreras asked to speak to present a privileged motion to interrupt the interpellation and begin the approval of the budget expansion.
This led to the start of a debate, and the Unionist deputy, Álvaro Arzú, questioned that an interpellation can only be interrupted by issues that have to comply with a constitutional deadline, otherwise, it could incur in some illegality.
#Now | Deputy Luis Contreras interrupts the questioning of the Minister of the Interior and presents a privileged motion to begin discussing the Q14 billion budget increase of President Bernardo Arévalo. pic.twitter.com/fFx1KWwtc1
— Henry Montenegro (@hmontenegro_GTV) August 13, 2024
The government, for its part, justified that the proposal was viable under a precedent that argued that the interpellation could be interrupted by priority initiatives such as the case of the expansion, which is of an economic nature.
Voting was opened and after an hour and a half, 109 votes were obtained to include the proposal on the agenda, in addition to waiving the need for an opinion and approving it as a matter of national urgency, despite the unfavorable opinion of the Finance Committee.
#Now | After more than an hour and a half of voting, with 109 votes the deputies approved a motion to interrupt the interpellation of the Minister of the Interior and to proceed to approve the budget extension that received an unfavorable opinion. pic.twitter.com/lP5SiPvJSN
— Henry Montenegro (@hmontenegro_GTV) August 14, 2024
The vote was not easy, as in the first hour they only had 99 votes and 107 were needed. At that moment the lobbying began and after another half hour, they managed to convince some legislators.
At that time the opposition began to point out that bribes were being offered in exchange for votes.
The government denies this and claims that the lobbying was directed at the line of projects and the Executive’s commitment to execute them.
“The issue of expansion brings projects and programs to different departments, especially the district deputies are aware that they need to bring work to their territories in order to have legitimacy because they offered things in campaigns, so that is fundamental and there is the guarantee that the Executive will get its act together to execute,” said deputy Samuel Pérez.
#Now | After midnight, the Congress approved with 111 votes the budget increase of Q14,451 million for the Executive. pic.twitter.com/j39wAojp0H
— Henry Montenegro (@hmontenegro_GTV) August 14, 2024
“That is the way that they know, like Allan Rodriguez, who negotiated in Congress, they sat there offering money to deputies, they fail to understand that it is not the way to negotiate and that you can get votes with valid arguments based on the development of the people of Guatemala,” said Perez.
Meanwhile, MP Sandra Jovel said she would take legal action because the interpellation was interrupted.
At around 11 p.m., a review of the fund took almost an hour and a half again, and approval of the proposal was delayed.
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