Census Data Says Congress Should Add 102 Deputies: Why Update Hasn’t Been Made in Three Decades

The latest provisional data for national census revealed that Argentina has 46,082,160 inhabitants and, according to the Constitution, the Chamber of Deputies should increase its number of seats so that proportionality is respected. Section 45 is very clear, if a province has more inhabitants, it must have more deputies, and the update must be done every ten years, after the census. However, the number of seats it has not been modified since 1983.

A report prepared by the Democratic Quality Research Center (CICaD) calculated what Congress wanted if the update was made based on current regulations (Decrees 19,862, 22,838 and 22,847 of the last military dictatorship). The first conclusion, logically, is that the Chamber of Deputies it should have many more deputies.

Concretely, it would happen to have 359 stallsthat’s to say, 102 other deputies (see full list below). In addition, several provinces would increase their specific weight, mainly Buenos Aireswhat would win 42 other places (112 in all). The constituency governed by Axel Kicillof is currently the most affected (under-represented), but still holds 27% of the seats. with the update would increase to 31%.

On the contrary, the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires it is the only borough overrepresented in relation to its population. with the update would lose 3 seats. In turn, they would modify the relative weight of certain provinces. Cordoba he would add 10 MPs and move into second place with nearly 8% of the House. I’ll be behind Santa Fewith 6 additional seats (7% of seats), and CABA (6%).

Before consulting GlobeLiveMediasources of Executive power They acknowledged that no changes are being considered by Congress. “It has never been done and it runs into a problem similar to the co-participation debate: agreements are needed between the parties and the provinces that have not been concluded so far“, they explained.

In this sense, they pointed out that it is Congress itself that, through legislation, must define how to reconfigure itself. Something that sounds almost utopian in this context of “strong polarization of the Chambers”.

“Also, how to sell to society in this context that more deputies are needed?asks a member of the ruling party.

The obstacles to complying with what the Constitution prescribes can be summed up in two: the impossibility of agreeing with the provinces and the lack of social consensus to increase the “political spending”.

From the Frente de Todos bench, they explained to this medium that inevitably updating will strengthen the centrality of the largest provinces and in a way, it takes political weight away from the small provinces. “A law would have to be assented to and no senator from the ‘losing’ provinces would vote for it,” they reflected.

The deputy of the GEN Marguerite Stolbizer drafted an update of the Chamber of Deputies in 2016 and will present it again in the coming days based on new census data.

The deputy for the province of Buenos Aires recalls that under the Cambiemos government, no consensus was reached to put the issue on the agenda, but she considers that with the new census on the table, the problem cannot no longer continue to be ignored.

Stolbizer acknowledges that no government will want to “pay the price” increase the number of deputies in a context of “so low credibility of politics”. In this sense, he assures that his project seeks to “respect the principle of proportionality but by increasing the number of seats as little as possible”. They would be 334 in total.

He even acknowledged that it would be possible to respect proportionality without adding members. But for that some provinces are expected to lose seatswhich they hardly accept within the framework of a political agreement.

“The current distribution is unfair because there are overrepresented provinces. They would have to lose places to get out of this inequality,” he explained. And he insisted that the Chamber of Senators is where the provinces, according to our system, are on an equal footing (with three senators each). This principle does not apply to Members of Parliament. “We have been non-compliant for many years, we are unaware that the province of Buenos Aires has a population level that needs to be more representative. The deputies do not represent the provinces but the people as a whole,” he said.

For Leandro DominguezDirector of Policy Analysis at Legislative directorycongress activity cannot and should not be “measured in budgetary terms”the criticisms linked to the increase in expenditure are therefore irrelevant.

In this sense, he explains that attempts to adjust proportionality without increasing the number of deputies could generate other tensions. For example, by giving more seats to the most populous provinces, the smaller ones would have to be removed. Then, some constituencies would end up with only one or two seats and significant parties in the political dynamics of each province. they would retain legislative representation. With the current system, which mandates a minimum of 5 seats, the second most voted force usually gets at least one.

On the other hand, Domínguez recognizes that the increase in the number of deputies could also have negative effects. “Today, the province with the most weight is Buenos Aires and if it is updated, it will increase even more. In addition, more deputies implies more complexity to reach a consensusbecause we have to negotiate with more people”, he listed.

Beyond the possible indirect consequences, he assures that the discussion must take place at a more abstract level and outside the electoral debate to reach a happy conclusion. “This cannot be done if a party plans to win or lose a seat in the next election“, he concluded.

Curiously, Justice has also spoken on the subject. In 2018 the National Electoral Chamber he ordered Congress to comply with the mandates of the Constitution.

For this, he gave way to the proposal of a private voter from the province of Córdoba, who alleged that -because the number of deputies elected by district is exceeded- the value of his vote is lower than that of the citizens of the other provinces.

The judges explained in their decision that “the more exact the ratio between the population of the Republic and the number of its deputies, the more the wise plan of organization of the legislative power adopted by the Argentine Constitution will be respected”.

So far, there has been no response from the political power. Nor is it a claim of society. Updating the Chamber of Deputies is expected to take another three decades.

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