The 101st ordinary session of the Bolivian Chamber of Deputies was held with the presence of 102 legislators, of which 45 approved to continue with the assembly, while 57 voted against.
The Chamber of Deputies of Bolivia on Thursday postponed the treatment of the bill that ratifies the Protocol of Accession of the highland country to Mercosur, because the majority of legislators rejected the installation of the ordinary session.
Deputies from the Citizen Community (CC), We Believe and the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) of the faction that supports former President Evo Morales, voted against the treatment of the bills that were presented on the agenda of the session of the Thursday.
“Having already heard the results of the vote, in accordance with article 36, paragraph b (of the regulations), the current session is suspended, postponing the treatment of the bills for a future session,” reported the president of the chamber body, Israel. Huaytari.
The legislators who voted against argued that the two laws against the extension of the mandate of judicial authorities should first be addressed. “The urgent thing is to try and consider bills 073 and 075 in Deputies. With the extended ones on top of us, we will never have judicial elections,” alleged the head of the CC bench, Enrique Urquidi.
The deputy of the MAS faction that supports President Luis Arce, Delfor Burgos, stated that the treatment of laws 073 and 075 must be carried out by the plenary session of the Legislative Assembly, since there is a resolution from the Chamber of Senators.
The 101st ordinary session of the Chamber of Deputies was held with the presence of 102 legislators, of which 45 approved the continuity of the assembly, while 57 voted against, a null vote, reported Rosario García, first secretary of Deputies.
ACCESSION
On December 13, 2023, the Executive Branch sent to the Legislative Branch the bill for the ratification of the Protocol of Accession of Bolivia to the Southern Common Market (Mercosur).
Bolivia began its accession process in 2013. Brazil was the only country that had yet to approve Bolivia's entry into Mercosur. That year, Venezuela accepted the integration of the country, in 2014 Argentina and Uruguay did so; and in 2016, Paraguay.
The treatment of the bill, “which approves the loan contract 5835/OC-BO for the Urban Integration, Energy Efficiency and Urban Mobility Program of Sucre”, signed on January 18, 2024, between Bolivia and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), for an amount of up to US$ 43 million.
