MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“There’s not such thing as a Mercosur parliament”, says Uruguayan lawmaker

Member of the Lower House Jorge Orrico

There’s no such thing as a Mercosur parliament or Parlasur, simple because it does not comply with the role of a legislative, said Uruguayan Lower House member Jorge Orrico from the ruling coalition.

“Anybody saying this is a parliament is talking nonsense because it does not comply with such a role, no decisions are taken” said Orrico in the eve of a meeting of the so called Mercosur parliament in Montevideo.

“A parliament has certain specific functions which the so called Mercosur Parliament does not have; we discuss things but decisions are not mandatory”, insisted Orrico.

Parlasur is just an international organization which does not draft bills, “it simply recommends and if a government does not comply, nothing happens”.

Parlasur will be respected if it makes decision such as the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

According to the official agenda the 72 members of Parlasur, from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela are meeting in Montevideo to discuss conservation controls on hunting, fishing and de-forestation, as well as to plan a regional campaign against the mosquito transmitted dengue disease.