The Chamber hangs the project that allowed private monopoly in the generation of electrical energy

The House of Representatives decided to hang today, Saturday, the bill that allowed a private monopoly on the infrastructure of electricity generation, while eliminating the interference of the Legislative Assembly in the decisions of privatization of public services.

The Speaker of the House, Carlos “Johnny” Méndez, has reiterated that the bill did not count on the votes, so they decided not to consider the measure at the close of the special session today. “We are not going to give up some conquests in terms of the Legislative Assembly,” Mendez told reporters, referring to the fact that the measure removes bans to amend the sale or lease transaction without approval. of the Legislative Assembly.

In addition, the bill removed the requirement for the governor to appoint public interest representatives to the Board of the Authority for Public-Private Partnerships (AAPP) from a shortlist of candidates for the Legislature. The piece also eliminated the requirement for the participation of representatives of the public interest to constitute a quorum.

Representative Víctor Parés, chairman of the government commission, told the press that the measure failed to convince the delegation to reduce powers in the legislature.

The measure was signed on Wednesday, December 23, just three days before the end of the special session convened by Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced. The first executive amended the call that same day to include the measure among the issues to be addressed at the session.

The president of the Union of Workers of the Electrical and Irrigation Industry (UTIER), Ángel Figueroa Jaramillo, was lobbying from the beginning against the project in the Capitol, to understand that it leaves the absolute control to the Executive Branch on the decisions of the Public-Private Partnerships. “This bill eliminates the few powers legislators have to analyze asset sales and the creation of other APPs. If before there was no transparency, now with this project, there will be less. With this project, the legislatures have no power to intervene in the approval or rejection of PPPs. A project like this cannot be approved in a hurry and in darkrooms while the country is in the midst of celebrating Christmas, “he said in a press release.

Other voices also repudiated the measure including former PNP senator Orlando Parga, who called it a “horror mistake.”