After having remained firm in denying the granting of legislative powers to the Executive, yesterday the Constitution Commission of the Chamber of Deputies of Congress finally approved the substitute text proposing to grant them for 90 days in matters of citizen security and measures to address the El Niño Phenomenon.
The decision generates uncertainty, given that initially the Executive sought powers to legislate on labor rights, among other sectors, which directly affected the population.
Following approval, the substitute text will go to the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies for debate and a vote. This chamber reduced the scope of the powers from eight areas to just two: to legislate on citizen security and to address the El Niño Phenomenon. It also establishes that the powers must respect due process, fundamental rights, and the autonomy of powers (of regional and local governments and autonomous bodies).
The substitute text also establishes specific guidelines for granting the legislative powers. Thus, the Executive will only be able to legislate on weapons control, the prison system, crimes such as extortion, contract killing, illegal mining, and cybercrime; while, for the El Niño Phenomenon, infrastructure, housing, water and sanitation projects may be expedited, as well as technical assistance and support for rural and Indigenous farmers exposed to climate events that affect them.
Labor experts indicated that granting the powers was a “risk”, given that from the outset the Executive had proposed reforms in other sectors such as employment for young people (which reduced their rights); they warned that if the powers were granted in some way, those reforms could be revived. The population, for its part, has repeatedly expressed opposition to granting the powers, so it will now await the debate in the lower house.
