MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguayan opposition questions the Mercosur Parliament

Members from the Uruguayan opposition claim that Uruguay's participation in the Mercosur Parliament, inaugurated this Monday in Montevideo, is unconstitutional and are appealing before the Supreme Court.

"The unconstitutional demand is not based in animosity towards the Mercosur Parliament but on the fact that the Uruguayan legal process has been ignored in so far as Uruguay's participation is concerned", said Leonardo Guzman, a former minister of Education and Culture. "The debate therefore is not if it's convenient or not to expand Mercosur", he added but "that the Uruguayan constitution has been abused since this would be the first time amendments are introduced without the approval of the electorate". The Uruguayan constitution has several amendments options, be it through Parliament or popular initiative, but they must all be finally considered in a national plebiscite, "which in this case has been ignored". The official announcement of the unconstitutionality claim was done by representatives from the three Uruguayan opposition parties with congressional representation together with former president Luis Alberto Lacalle who signed Uruguay's incorporation to Mercosur in 1991, and a team of legal experts in constitutional and administrative law. The Mercosur Parliament protocol "modifies substantially the Uruguayan constitution in such essential areas as calling elections, voting, representation plus openly ignoring the mechanisms, "clearly spelled to amend the constitution", said Dr. Guzman. The Mercosur Parliament was officially opened last Monday in Montevideo with 90 legislators from the five country members, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. However the Parliament will only play an advisory role until 2010 when the first elections for direct representation will be called. Mercosur junior members (Paraguay and Uruguay) are quite disappointed with the functioning of the customs union, which they claim has turned into a "two members club" (Argentina and Brazil) regarding trade and markets and there's a growing consensus that a regional parliament could end confirming such a situation, plus causing a loss of "sovereignty".