After six months without a legislative body, since the application of crucifixion on May 17 by the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lass, this Friday, November 17, the new National Assembly began its work by electing its bodies that will be They will end this Sunday the 19th by forming commissions. After that, the members of the assembly have several unsolved tasks left over from the previous representatives and other procedures that have accumulated during the time of absence.

One of these new procedures, which could be one of the first that the legislator will deal with, is the ratification of the trade agreement with China, which was approved by the Constitutional Court on November 1. The organization asked the executive power to send it to the National Assembly for analysis and adoption as soon as it takes office.

The Constitutional Court has approved a trade agreement between Ecuador and China and is asking the executive to send it to the National Assembly as soon as it takes office

Another issue, however, that was highlighted by the previous Assembly and must be considered is the current popular initiative to reform the Law on the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (IESS) and the Law on the IESS Bank (Biess).

This proposal of the National Front citizen group for the new IESS reached the Assembly after 54,557 signatures of support from citizens were collected. Article 103 of the Constitution states that the people’s normative initiative shall be implemented to propose the creation, modification or abolition of legal norms before the legislative authority or other body with regulatory authority. It must have the support of no less than 0.25% of the people registered in the electoral roll of the respective jurisdiction.

“The Assembly must consider the FTA from a technical, not a political, perspective”

Regarding the approval of the trade agreement with China, economic analyst Jorge Calderón indicates that the new National Assembly must look at it from a technical, not a political, perspective. It is assumed that within these governance agreements between the new executive and legislature, these issues should be advanced and resolved.

“In the case of the agreement with China and all other agreements, which the current Government (Guillermo Lassa) implemented well, they were very well negotiated, they do not include those sensitive sectors and groups, because for example, textiles. We all know how affordable Chinese products are, and in the case of textiles there is quite a lot of competition because they are much cheaper than what can be produced here,” says Calderón.

He emphasizes that agreements were negotiated, not imposition, and he hopes that the new convocation of the National Assembly will move forward as soon as possible in its entry into force.

“The new Parliament has only 118 days left to approve IESS reforms”

In the case of the reforms of the IESS and Biess laws, the project focuses on the restructuring of the Board of Directors of IESS and the Board of Directors of IESS Bank so that members and pensioners have greater representation in these governing bodies.

The project proposes that the representatives of insured persons and employers in the Management Board of IESS be carried out through a direct election process, voter list and voting, in which all insured persons (active and passive) and employees of IESS participate as voters. Mandatory general insurance. Also to agree on a payment plan for the debts owed by the state to IESS, which would amount to more than 10,000 million dollars, and that Biess can operate on the financial market as a first level bank.

Henry Llanes obtains the approval of a popular initiative for the National Assembly to consider his proposals for the reform of the IESS and Biess laws

“The previous Assembly that was closed already fulfilled several requirements related to the bill, such as all the requirements established by Articles 9 and 10 of the Organic Law on Citizen Participation,” explains Henry Llanes, former MP and representative of pensioners’ associations.

It is stated that according to Article 103 of the Constitution, the Assembly has 180 days to approve the project, and if it does not do so within that period, it will be published in the Official Register as a law. “The previous Assembly had it for 62 days, so the current one still has 118 days to adopt it.”

And he announces that this Monday, November 20, he will send a communication to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Henry Kronfle, “as the lawyers say, to put him in office.”