The Chamber of Deputies approved the amendments to the bill in an extraordinary session. Now, the president must decide whether to partially veto Article 72 or not.
The Chamber of Deputies gave definitive sanction to the Audiovisual Communication Services Actbetter known as, simply, law media; After several months of comings and goings, with an internal election in the middle included and a mess that had postponed for the third time the treatment of the modifications sent from the Senate, among them, the controversial Article 72The question now is what the president will do. Luis Lacalle Pou Now, with the text in your hands.
With 50 votes from the ruling party out of a total of 91 parliamentarians, the media law finally achieved its final approval, with the changes incorporated during the debate in the High camera included. Now, the uncertainty is what the president will do Lacalle Pou: whether he will regulate the text in its entirety or, instead, resort to a partial veto on article 72 of political “impartiality”, as he hopes the Colorado Party, and that is why he ended up voting in favor.
The pressure for an eventual veto has been there since the moment the text came down from the Senate with the article added by Town meeting —their own exchange to vote in favor of the project—, which is understood by many sectors as a threat to the freedom of expression and Press release to the media, even on the verge of unconstitutionality. There, the Colorado legislators put forward the presidential veto as the least discordant solution in constitutional terms, in terms of parliamentary processes and, above all, of peace within the coalition. The alternative, if not, was to vote against it, which would imply that the project, in its entirety, would fall.
With approval, the decision is in the hands of Lacalle Pou: either partially vein the controversial article – which could also cause problems, since it would become the third presidential veto of a proposal by the councilors, at a time when the relationship is still tense and when every vote counts in the face of the eventual runoff in November -; or the Colorado Party will appeal for the legal way to its elimination.
A lengthy and eventful debate
The debate and vote lasted until the early hours of the morning, because it was discussed in an extraordinary session, from approximately 9:30 p.m. The request was made during the ordinary session scheduled for Wednesday —the first part of which began at 10 a.m. and then resumed at 4 p.m.— in which the last part was discussed. Accountability of this government; after the meeting on Tuesday in which the law was to be voted on fell through due to administrative disagreements and parliamentary regulations.
The project was submitted as “urgent” to the chamber, and the deputies presented Gabriel Mazzarovich, Alfonso Lerete, Nino Medina, Gustavo Olmos, Juan Rodriguez, Mariano Tucci, Sebastian Valdomir, Ope Pasquet, Bettiana Diaz, Martin Sodano, Ines Cortes, Micaela Melgar, Gonzalo Barcelo and Ivan Posada. The 41 negative votes corresponded, for the most part, to those of the Broad Front; while the Colorado Party voted in favor, as it had announced.
The truth is that, after two previous delays, the media law was expected to conclude its parliamentary journey – which involved a first vote in the House of Representatives, a vote with the incorporation of modifications in the Senate and, now, its final approval in the Lower House – in the session on Tuesday, called for that purpose. However, the time for the end of the session arrived without the motion for extension being discussed and, as indicated in the regulations, it had to be lifted.
This led to clashes between the legislators present who, without expecting it, began to blame each other, mainly between the ruling party and the opposition. The governing coalition indicated a deliberate boycott of the vote – the president of the Chamber is the Frente Amplio member. Ana Olivera—; while the Broad Front was quick to point out the sloppiness of the ruling party legislators.
Finally, in the early hours of Thursday morning, the law was approved.
Source: Ambito
