The agreement for the establishment of a Mercosur Parliament will be signed still this year, by the presidents of the bloc’s four member states: Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
The information was given yesterday by the Secretary General of the Mercosur Joint Parliament Commission, Deputy Doutor Rosinha (Worker’s Party [PT] of the Southern state of Paraná).
According to the Deputy, even though the Ouro Preto Protocol, signed by the Common Market Council in 1994, expected the signature of the agreement to happen until December 2006, the process will probably be anticipated.
“I believe the authorization will be anticipated because the parliament is fundamental for the development of the Mercosur. It will be an arena for democratic debates,” he said.
Doutor Rosinha emphasized that the Mercosur Parliament will be able to construct a common identity for Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay.
“It will create a new political culture. The Mercosur will only be built when we stop saying “me” and start to say “us”,” he stated.
Deputy Doutor Rosinha participated yesterday in the seminary “Meeting with the Mercosur,” in Salvador, capital of Brazilian Northern state of Bahia.
ABr