The Secretary of Institutional Affairs and Political Reform of Entre Ríos, Julián Maneiro, provided details of the initiative presented by Governor Rogelio Frigerio to debate political and electoral reform in the province.
In statements made to the program To Whom It May Concern (Radio Plaza)Maneiro indicated that “as the governor stated yesterday, the idea is to advance a comprehensive reform of the electoral rules of the province, which includes not only the Electoral Code but also various aspects of the law on political parties and other laws that will necessarily have to be reformed like the law of municipalities and others.”
“The idea is, centrally, to modernize the system; incorporate the single paper ballot; regulate electoral campaigns because at the national level there was progress on this but at the provincial level it is not there; The financing of the electoral campaigns is also pending, so there are several issues that must be reviewed, updated and put in conditions so that Entre Ríos has a modern electoral political system,” he defined.
Asked about the dialogue held with the opposition in this regard, he said that “there were informal conversations, now the round of more concrete conversations begins and based on a draft that will surely be built between all the actors of the main parties, and what happened yesterday It was the invitation for all political actors and minority parties to also present their ideas. There are conversations, there are coincidences, there are antecedents to consider because there is an initiative from 2018 where Rosario Romero had a leading role and that of course must be taken into account to find consensus.”
He clarified that “a project has not yet been entered, what was done yesterday is politically the beginning of the agenda where contacts will be established with all political sectors, the parties in particular, and the mayors, and the institutional actors such as the Electoral Court to agree on an idea that will be entered by the Executive Branch in the coming weeks.”
In relation to the regulations of the campaign, he explained that “how long the campaign lasts at the provincial level should be established, what can and cannot be done in the campaigns – surveys, opinion polls, inaugurations, official advertising – everything is established in national rules but not in the provincial electoral rules and in the event that the elections are split, we do not have applicable rules.”
In this framework, he opined that “there should be progress in a system of equitable distribution of advertising advertising based on a clear official distribution, by lottery, similar to that of the Nation but it can be improved much better.”
In the same way, he explained that “we must see what is meant by campaign financing, if the State is going to guarantee electoral advertising with an equitable distribution and if the parties are not going to have the expense of printing ballots because with a ballot Only the State would do it, the campaign expenses borne by parties and political forces would be much lower. But we must also incorporate a chapter similar to what is at the national level for the regulation of the financing of electoral campaigns and the corresponding accountability by political groups.”
Finally, regarding the questions regarding the moment of crisis that the country is experiencing, he pointed out that “it is logical to think about it, I understand that these types of discussions are always difficult, understanding that people see that it is not an issue that concerns them. everyday life of inflation, crisis or lack of work but we understand and citizens must understand that they are fundamental rules because they make the election of authorities and improve them, improve the democratic system, make it transparent, make it easier, more accessible . That is the intention and we believe that it is the time because we are far from any electoral dispute and the further we are from issues of renewal of authorities, the better the consensus can be found to discuss the rules of the game.”
