The processing of the reform of IESS and Biess, proposed by pensioners, which has 180 days to process, has begun without haste.

Despite the fact that the first working meeting was held last Tuesday at The draft law on the reform of the Law on Social Security and the Law on IESS Bank, in the Commission for the Right to Work and Social Security, presented by representatives of civil society, it seems that the process did not arouse interest or haste in the assembly. members, nor bodies of IESS.

This law, which is special because it comes as a citizens’ initiative backed by signatures, seeks to reform the composition of the Board of Directors of IESS, the Board of Directors of IESS Bank (Biess), to turn Biess into a first-tier bank and to have the state pay its debts partly to public companies. It has 180 days to approve or reject, but if that procedure is not followed, it will automatically come into effect by the Ministry of Law.

Henry Llanes, who is implementing the regulatory proposal he sponsored National Front for the new IESS; by the Association of Branches, Pensioners and Retirees of IESS Pichincha and other organizations of retirees in the country, explained that last Tuesday the members of the assembly or the main bodies of IESS were not present at the first meeting (Alfredo Ortega, President and Diego Salgado, General Director).

Three councilors of the assembly and the head of the Legal Service of the Commission participated. On the pensioners’ side, on the other hand, there were fourteen people, including managers and technicians specializing in constitutional and labor law, social security and parliamentary law. Also present were Fernando Mosquera, as an economic and financial advisor, and Jorge Escobar, an expert in actuarial and mathematical calculations. In addition, three advisers of the Bank participated.

Llanes commented that after the first meeting, members of civil society promoting the law evaluated the results and that the general consensus was that the presence of members of the assembly was necessary, because they are the ones who will discuss the law, not advisers.

“If parliamentarians don’t have hearing, how will they feed themselves with information and knowledge for discussion,” he said. They also expressed their regret that, according to their assessment, the advisors are not specialized in that topic, nor were they clear about what the people’s normative initiative consists of. In any case, he said, it was clearly explained to them that there is a deadline of 180 days for resolution, but that if this process is not completed, the law will automatically enter into force.

The Commission, chaired by MP Rina Campain, confirmed that the law has not yet been consolidated at the Commission’s session and that he provided a working table only with advisers to define a plan for dealing with the law. Next Friday, April 28, there will also be a new work table with only advisors and proposers.

Llanes said that during the first meeting the advisers were told that there were 145 days left until the end of the mandate: “time is inexorable”. He said that it would be desirable for members of parliament to deal with the law from the beginning. ANDthe deadline for discussing the law began on March 15.

Article 103 of the Constitution states that:

The proponent of the civil sector, for his part, says that he already has a plan for socialization and discussions on the law. One of its goals will be to determine the amounts owed by the state to IESS, as well as the balance in the pension fund.

In this context, he will send several requests for information to the representatives of IESS

In its most important points, the draft law requests:

Change in the composition of the IESS Council

Change in the composition of the IESS Board of Directors, from three to five members. These will be two representatives of the branch and their deputies, a retiree and his replacement. The fourth member will be chosen by private employers. The Ministry of Labor will select a fifth member from among public employers.

The Board of Directors of Biess is elected by the Board of Directors

The four members of the Biessa Board of Directors will be elected by the IESS Board of Directors. Those selected must meet the technical profile: know the financial and stock market.

Biess will be a tier one bank

Biess can open windows for clients, regardless of whether they are connected to IESS or not. Clients will have bank accounts and access loans, pay for services, just like any private bank in the country does.

Payment of debts with state shares

The state must pay outstanding debts and bond maturities with shares of state-owned companies in strategic sectors. In this sense, he says that oil companies, transmission and production of electricity, mining, telecommunications should change their figures into companies of mixed economy in which the state will be the largest shareholder.