The lack of compliance by the Executive towards the deputies who initially made up the legislative alliance formed on January 14 was the trigger for the “break” between the government and other groups represented in the Congress of the Republic. Although for some the alliance is maintained, although not permanently.
The Executive made offers to all sectors and there were no agreements. From the dispute for the Monetary Board to the appointment of departmental governors. Added to this complaint is that the president, Bernardo Arévalo, in recent weeks met with “non-aligned” deputies from Vamos, Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE), Visión con Valores (Viva) and Cabal.
This distancing is reflected in the Congress of the Republic, which seems to not have sufficient agreements to promote a legislative agenda in which all parties feel interested. At least that is what the latest plenary sessions reflect, according to political analysts.
In the current legislature, the deputies have approved 12 decrees, the last of which was the Dissolution and Liquidation of Fondetel. While the initiatives presented by the Executive – air services agreements and scientific cooperation – have not been read in plenary.
The last time that the ruling party – Movimiento Semilla – achieved the full support of the alliance was in the election of Samuel Pérez as president of Congress – a position he held for two days – and that of Nery Ramos, current president of said body.
The support that seemed robust in favor of the new pro-government group is declining. But although some deputies claim that the alliance is maintained, the latest sessions show the opposite, political issues do not pass and they have only dedicated themselves to reading bills.
On Monday, April 29, the ruling party deputy, Samuel Pérez, was consulted regarding the apparent fragmentation of the alliance. He justified that there is only a dialogue process and said that an example that there are agreements is that the Competition Law would be approved, although a day following it was known in the plenary session, the votes were not obtained to approve it.
This phenomenon, according to analysts, is not common within a legislature that has just begun. They consider that there are some elements that must be improved if they really want to obtain a robust and productive Congress of the Republic in the issuance of laws.
weak alliance
For the independent analyst Alejandro Quinteros, the Board of Directors of Congress and the official bloc need to improve the agenda they promote among the deputies, so that they can generate decrees.
“Historically, legislative production decreases as the years go by, but if in the first year there are no agreements for the most basic things that the country needs, we can expect very little for the coming years.”
At the beginning of the tenth legislature, the ruling parties showed a solid alliance. But this was not entirely true according to Quinteros, who adds the little strength that this group has shown within parliament.
“I think they only gave the perception of being a solid alliance at the beginning but that is not the case. “It really is an alliance made up of very diverse factions and that leads to what we see, that there are no longer agreements for more laws.”
Quinteros considers that the most important thing now is that the ruling parties or the Board of Directors are willing to negotiate with the benches. “Congress is a space for negotiation and interests are based on the negotiations that can be carried out (…) to the extent that the ruling party is willing to negotiate, it will maintain alliances.”
Lack of communication
Something that has failed within Congress, according to Alejandro Solorzano, an analyst at the Legislative Observatory, is the lack of communication. He said that there is no clear exchange of ideas, any initiative can fail when it is included in an agenda.
“The legislative initiatives that are being placed on the agendas have diminished the possibility of progress because there is no cohesion of forces to continue, for example, with the Competition Law they have not been able to obtain 107 votes.”
Solorzano believes that, if they want to change this, all deputies need to know what they are seeking to approve. Because, although the block heads approve an agenda, at the end of the day the sovereign is the legislative plenary session made up of the 160 deputies.
“The need for consensus comes from permanent dialogue. The lack of communication between deputies and the lack of strategies to be able to dialogue between them has weakened the possibility of finding consensus.”
The topics
Two blocks that were key for the independents at the beginning of the legislature were the National Unity of Hope (UNE) and Cabal. Benches that affirm that there is no rupture, but recognize that there are issues that require greater dialogue and that communication is needed.
Inés Castillo, head of the UNE bloc, denied that the ruling alliance is going through a bad time. “As a deputy and as a politician I tell you that the phenomenon that exists right now is that agreements and consensus prevail more, the opinions of other groups are respected. Before, they gave you the order from Sixth Avenue because you had to vote and if you weren’t out, that doesn’t happen now.”
Castillo indicates that there are some legislative initiatives that, although they are good for the country, need the support of the rest of the blocks to finally be approved.
“The Competition Law, the retiree law, the consumer protection law are important, but they are working on some amendments or they are sleeping on them, the Healthy Eating Law also does not have a political agreement to move forward.”
Luis Aguirre, head of the Cabal bloc, agrees that there are key issues that have not been socialized. “What happens is that they have been scheduling laws that still do not have the necessary lobbying. For example, the Healthy Eating Law does not have consensus and that has generated discontent among some deputies.”
For the initiatives to move forward, Aguirre points out, they need the deputies to study each of the proposals. But he believes that this may be due to a problem of lack of communication that he hopes will be resolved.
“They have been scheduled from one day to the next and we have not had time to see opinions, not voting for something that is not fully known has generated that (…) there has been a lack of communication, organization and some admiring details, but we are here to support them and get out of that rut.”
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