That in Uruguay there should be a birth control regime. That it should be so, under the understanding that procreation is not a parental right, but rather represents a responsibility. that there should be alicense”, which would only be received by people who could meet certain social, economic and health requirements. The objective would be for the children who come into the world in Uruguay to do so “with the best social and family guarantees” or, at least, with minimum acceptable conditions. “This would be the mother of all social policies. If a birth has to be stopped or custody taken away, even if it doesn’t sound nice, it’s a responsibility to do so.”
All this is said by an ordinary citizen and is part of one of the hundreds of proposals that Parliament has been receiving since mid-2020, in the application of the Citizen Participation Program (Propaci).
It is a virtual tool that allows citizens to “be part of the legislative work”, proposing new bills, making improvements to those already in force or suggesting issues to legislators.
The senators and representatives seem to have taken some inspiration from there, and several of these citizen initiatives presented appear reflected, to a greater or lesser extent, in texts that were entered into the legislative discussion. The rest will be limited to a mere aspiration, but they serve to reflect the concerns of those citizens who, without holding public office, seem to have a particular concern for certain issues.
Thus, another of the proposals proposes to anticipate what will come and modify, from now on, the Penal Code and include there as an aggravating circumstance the use of robots to commit a homicide. “In a short time it will be possible to build robots to commit crimes, making it difficult to identify the mastermind”warns this farsighted citizen.
Someone else proposes directly remove the national flag understanding that all its symbols are Masonic, which constitutes a “clear violation of secularism”.
The battery of proposals include everything from “legal and egalitarian” polygamy to the installation of audible traffic lights for the blind or a law that grants compensation to the descendants of slaves. Also, from the creation of a “system of little stars” to qualify the work of all public officials, to the awarding of a “gold medal” every year to the minister with the best performance. Or the regulation of the sale of toilet paper by its weight. Or regulate asteroid mining.
Other proposals go through the creation of the “forests of the Homeland” through the planting of a tree for each graduate of secondary education or the imposition of fines on the owners of “barking dogs.”
Or there is also the proposal that all adults “who are in their right mind” and who are destitute be admitted to the Armed Forces as “Rookie soldiers can still fend for themselves so far.” Along these lines, other proposals are aimed at prohibiting spending the night on public roads or even prohibiting people who receive subsidies from the State from voting.
Several of the proposals are directed directly at the political system. Thus, the recent “leaking” of a reserved document that the director of the Secretary of State Strategic Intelligence, Álvaro Garcé, delivered to a group of senators, also motivated citizen concern. One of the initiatives rightly proposes sanctioning the legislator with the dismissal of his position for the “crime of compromising national security” if he incurs in the disclosure of secret documents.
Another citizen claims that the candidates and parties that aspire to compete in national elections must make themselves known at least two years before each government takes office. The intention here is that “do not suddenly appear people or parties that the public does not know.”
Another proposal considers pertinent to modify the regulations of Parliament to provide for “new situations” that may occur in sessions. For example, grievances or insults between legislators due to gender conditions or personal opinions. Also, to demand a “minimum” dress code and prevent them from wearing any political or partisan badge in the room. Fines of between 5% and 50% of salary are proposed there. The proposals include the obligation that senators and representatives must have, to assume, a bachelor’s degree.
Among the initiatives is a solution to the situation of towns that, like Cardona and Florencio Sánchez or Nico Pérez and José Batlle y Ordóñez, appear divided by just one street each in a different department. A situation that, he says, eliminates the possibility of growth and well-being, as they are often governed by different regulations. “Unify to add”, he proposes. Thus, the two towns would be united into one and would remain under the jurisdiction of the department where the town with the largest population of the two was located.
