Raúl Latorre seeks penalties for lawmakers’ absences as issue returns to agenda

Mass absences again disrupted Paraguay’s Chamber of Deputies after lawmakers failed to reach a quorum for an ordinary session. A later extraordinary session dealt only with the takeover by Colorado Party lawmakers of the Comptroller’s Office, according to the report.

The issue returned to the chamber’s leadership meeting the next morning. Daniel Centurión, leader of the Colorado Añeteté bloc, said Chamber President Raúl Latorre had instructed officials to prepare a proposal changing the lower house’s internal rules.

Centurión said the proposal would seek “effective sanctions” and that the strongest measure would hit lawmakers financially. He said the chamber’s image had become a concern and that technical staff were already working on a concrete plan.

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It is a concern about the image the Chamber of Deputies is projecting, and President Raúl Latorre gave precise instructions. A team of technicians is already working on a concrete proposal to make the sanction effective, and what will hurt most will be a financial penalty: hitting our colleagues in their pockets.

The proposal would tighten the rules for excusing absences. Under the current system, a legislator can reportedly justify an absence by making a call, even after the session. That makes it difficult to apply deductions from lawmakers’ compensation. Deductions can currently be considered only after three consecutive unjustified absences or five nonconsecutive absences.

The report describes lawmakers’ working arrangements as highly privileged. They are required to attend ordinary sessions once a week, on Tuesdays, and may join committee meetings virtually. Their monthly salary and representation expenses total 37.9 million guaraníes. Centurión said current rules provide for deductions of 300,000 guaraníes for lateness and 600,000 for an absence, amounts he expects could increase.

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I believe the current rules provide for a deduction of 300,000 guaraníes for arriving late and 600,000 for an absence. I believe that will increase and, again, the sanctions will be made workable in practice, because the argument is that today the sanction cannot be implemented.