The Chamber hangs the bill that allowed the private monopoly on electricity generation

Today, Saturday, the House of Representatives decided to hang the bill allowing a private monopoly on electricity generation infrastructure, while lifting the Legislative Assembly’s interference in decisions to privatize public services.

The president of the chamber, Carlos “Johnny” Méndez, reiterated that the bill was not getting the votes, so they decided not to consider the measure at the end of today’s extraordinary session. “We are not going to give in to some of the conquests in terms of the Legislative Assembly,” Méndez told the press, referring to the measure lifting the bans so that the sale or lease transaction is changed without the Legislative Assembly’s approval.

In addition, the bill removed the requirement that the governor appoint representatives of public interest to the board of the Authority for Public Private Partnerships (AAPP) from a shortlist of candidates from the Legislative Assembly. The play also deleted the requirement that representatives of the public interest participate to form a quorum.

Representative Víctor Parés, chairman of the government committee, told the press that the measure failed to convince the delegation because it took away powers from the legislature.

This measure was filed on Wednesday, December 23, just three days before the extraordinary session convened by Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced ends today. The first supervisor amended the call that same day to include the measure as one of the issues to be addressed during the session.

Union of Electric and Irrigation Industry Workers (UTIER) chair, Ángel Figueroa Jaramillo, lobbied the Capitol project early on, knowing that it gives the executive branch absolute control over the alliances’ decisions. Public private. “This bill eliminates the few powers that lawmakers have to analyze the sale of assets and the creation of other PPPs. If there was no transparency before, now with this project there will be less. In this project, the legislative bodies have no authority to intervene in the approval or rejection of PPPs. Such a project cannot be rushed and approved in dark rooms while the country celebrates Christmas, ”he said in a press release.

Other voices also rejected the measure, including former PNP Senator Orlando Parga, calling it a “ horror mistake. ”