After the scandal, Sergio Massa and the opposition agreed to discuss in person only some "conflictive" projects

Jasmine Bullorini

09/08/2020 - 19:30

• Clarín.com

• Politics

After the scandalous session of last Tuesday and the judicial complaint of Juntos por el Cambio -to annul the extension of the virtual protocol approved that day-, the president of the Deputies, Sergio Massa, and the heads of opposition blocs reached an agreement .

This is how the JxC request is resolved, which has already announced that it

The treatment in commissions, even of those issues, will be kept remotely so that legislators do not have to mobilize every week.

The meeting, in the Hall of Honor of the Presidency, began after 7:00 p.m. The heads of the block

(Frente de Todos),

(UCR),

(PRO),

(Civic Coalition)

gave the present

,

(Federal Consensus),

(Unity and Equity interblock), and

and

, from the Left, among others.

The head of the Federal interblock,

, as well as

(Neuquino Popular Movement) and

(Córdoba Federal) participated virtually.

The discussion about the method of operation of the Chamber took place at the height of the contagion peak and after it was known that the PRO legislator José Nuñez -who participated in person in Tuesday's session- has coronavirus.

As

, Massa took the proposal devised by Bucca and the PRO parliamentary secretary, Silvia Lospennato.

, when the polemic session was already started.

But at the time, the rope was too tight and the deal failed to move forward.

On Tuesday 1, the deputies of Together for Change gave a press conference in the hall of the lost steps of the Chamber of Deputies Photo: Germán Garcia Adrasti

Back then, the discord revolved around the exceptions.

In JxC they emphasized that

- some 75 deputies are over 60 - or because they have pre-existing diseases

.

.

Deep down, they did not want to be left sitting alone in person with the majority "behind the screens."

But from the Frente de Todos they insisted that legislators cannot be "forced" to travel in the midst of the pandemic.

Finally, in the minutes agreed to this Tuesday night, it was established that

are excepted

Thus, for the "controversial" sessions, the formula will be inverted: a majority will be in person and a minority remotely.

"We want the principle of presence not to be lost and virtuality to be the exception

. Because if not, until we are all vaccinated, Congress will be lame as it happens to Justice," Negri had declared before the meeting.

The lavagnistas accompanied the request.

"It is reasonable to go to a mixed system that guarantees presence in a space that allows the sanitary protocol to be perfectly complied with and protects the integrity of the person," said Alejandro "Topo" Rodríguez, president of the Federal Consensus.

The place for the face-to-face sessions will not be the Congress.

In current mixed sessions, only up to 47 deputies can enter.

Last Tuesday, with the boxes enabled, almost 100 entered, but there was no more room.

"The measures do not resist the mandatory social distance," they point out.

Therefore, a spacious and ventilated space should be sought.

Places like the

Kirchner Cultural Center, the Movistar Arena stadium and even some sports complex in the suburbs.

The meeting did not address the issue of the judicial complaint.

Only in the beginning, Massa made an allusion by emphasizing the importance of congressional issues being resolved "within Congress."

From JxC they point out that they will not cancel it and will let

The discussion began last Tuesday when, after an eight-hour meeting of parliamentary work, the ruling party renewed the virtual protocol with the support of the smaller blocks. Together for Change, he denounced that the consensus of all the banks was required and appealed to the Justice, where he presented an injunction to challenge the renewal of the protocol and the session in which the Tourism Emergency Law and the project on illegal fishing were approved.