Media Law: The opposition failed to reach quorum to debate the misprint

The controversy over the misprint in the Media Law won’t be debated in the Senate because the opposition failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed to determine the validity of the changes on the law.

The issue had been raised by the Buenos Aires lawmaker Samuel Cabanchik, who asked to debate the issue off the agenda, and requested that the body ratified the content approved on the session carried out on October 10, 2009. That would force the Executive to repeal the decree of the Media Law’s promulgation, and to develop a corrective law.

The opposition requested to back off with the promulgation and that the text be published exactly as it was approved by the Upper House, with the errors found in the two articles.

The request was supported by the radical Ernesto Sanz, Adolfo Rodríguez Saá dissident Peronist the juecista Cordoba Carlos Rossi, the renovator Juan Agustín Pérez Alsina, and the representative of the Civic Coalition María Eugenia Estenssoro.

The UCR understands that there was a tampering with the public document and blames the Chamber of Deputies, the ultra kirchnerist Eduardo Fellner, and the the Senate’s parliamentary secretary, Juan Estrada.

The complainants say that Fellner was authorized to renumber the articles and to correct spelling mistakes, but not to change the text. They claim that the ‘misprint’ sent by the Senate 23 days after it was passed by the Upper House included amendments to the artciles No. 95 and 124. For that reason, they say that the law “lacks enforceability”.

Pichetto said he also wanted to “highlight the honesty and good faith of the parliamentary secretary Juan Estrada and the prosecretary Juan José Canale, whom we will support in the parliament.

Besides the “misprint” of the Media Law, the kirchnerism will seek that the Senate ratifies the NUD 527/05 which aims to extend radio and television licenses for ten years. The decree already has the approval of the Chamber of Deputies and it has had a favorable ruling for over two years.