Cabildo Abierto, the political party led by the former commander of the Army, Guido Manini Rioshas decided stay within the multicolored coalition of the national government, despite the tensions with President Luis Lacalle Pou and the National Party. The decision was made after former Housing Minister Irene Moreira was supported in connection with the controversy that led to her resignation.
Although Cabildo Abierto has been the most critical political force within the government coalition, had not jeopardized his place until now. The controversy that led to the resignation of Moreira, after give a house to a member of his partyunleashed the ire of some of the lobbyists, who came to consider leaving the coalition.
Moreira gave a statement to the press (and not a conference, as he had announced, because he did not answer questions) in which he reaffirmed that he would make the same decision again, remarking that, in his opinion, he did not do anything wrong.
They remain in the coalition, but with friction
Finally, it was decided that Cabildo Abierto would continue in government, but this does not mean that there are no differences between the party and President Lacalle Pou. In fact, the election of the next Minister -or Minister- of Housing, which must be presented by Cabildo Abierto, remains an open question.
Party leader Guido Manini Ríos stayed out of the vote, vowing to accept the majority decision. Meanwhile, Congresswoman Elsa Capillera, one of those who voted to continue in the coalition, argued that abandoning the projects that had been started was not a viable option.
The political situation in Uruguay remains tense and the Cabildo Abierto’s decision to remain in the coalition does not mean that the tensions have disappeared.
Declaration of the Political Table of Cabildo Abierto (08/05/2023)
(Verbatim copy of the text)
The Political Table of Cabildo Abierto has met in an extraordinary way, concerned about the lack of attention to the serious problems of the people such as family debt, the growth of crime, the scarcity of drinking water, those linked to work and the escalation of prices.
All of this within the framework of serious difficulties in the functioning of the government coalition, which we have warned about for a long time, but which have worsened in recent weeks.
Difficulties that are far from the concerns of the population. Cabildo Abierto is essentially concerned with the responsibility assumed before its 270,000 voters, whom it urged to vote for a presidential formula backed by a Commitment to the Country, which was victorious thanks to this decisive contribution.
The fight against the pandemic showed that united and working together the country comes out ahead even in the worst scenarios. In those first years of government, the coalition parties, without ceasing to express our differences and nuances, managed to direct the necessary measures for a highly valued management of the health emergency and a series of policies contained in the LUC that the citizens endorsed in the polls in 2022.
The post-pandemic presented us with new challenges, but above all the duty to resume the other emergencies that had been dragging on since previous administrations, such as insecurity, household income problems, lack of work, the scourge of drugs, bad educational outcomes and settlement growth. The Cabildo Abierto initiatives that tend to look after the general interest and not that of some economic groups are the ones that have aroused the greatest violence in certain sectors, which have not kept any qualifications against this group, in
contradiction with the most elementary rules that must be respected in a political society.
This happened during the discussion of the bill to prevent the best lands in the country from being forested, approved in Parliament and vetoed by the Executive Power. It also happened with the proposals aimed at improving the pension calculation and prioritizing that the AFAPs invest in our country instead of speculating abroad. And it is happening now with the project presented on the restructuring of individual debts, which is causing discomfort in the ranks of the opposition and the government.
Cabildo Abierto is not going to take a step back in the search for solutions to the real problems of Uruguayans. In pursuit of making a greater effort to respond to these obligations to the people, acting with serenity and responsibility, the Board
Express policy unanimously, except for point 7:
1. Your full support for the actions taken by the Minister of Housing and Territorial Planning
Irene Moreira and expressly recognizes the work accomplished in the 3 years in charge of such an important ministry for so many people. She reiterates that the resignation request requested by the president to the minister was unjustified and misguided, based on incomplete and erroneous information.
2. It considers that this attitude was permeated by a revengeful spirit against Cabildo Abierto and bears no relation to the passivity shown in the face of serious cases that have occurred in the last year in high levels of the government or that involve
leaders of other coalition parties.
3. Cabildo Abierto has made innumerable contributions to the coalition, promoting issues, presenting projects, suggesting improvements to those presented by other parties and by the Executive Power. To cite the clearest cases: law of urgent consideration,
five-year budget, accountability, retirement and pension reform. In addition to achieving legislation on joint ownership, legal status of unions, reduction of personal income tax and IASS, hospitalization of people with addictions.
4. In pursuit of the construction and permanence of the coalition, not to be hostile to the partner parties or the Executive Power, our party gave its vote of confidence to the authorities, in the most diverse circumstances. He did it both in matters of law and
adjudications, interpellations or calls to the room. Cabildo Abierto has shown ample signs of institutional loyalty and loyalty to the partners, something that was not valued enough by those partners or by the president, nor does he feel that there has been
There has been full reciprocity in that trust.
5. The events of the last few months show that the coalition has lacked affectio societatis. The presidentialist and personalist operating model leads
necessarily to disagreements. All the existing coalitions in this country, especially
ecially those chaired by Luis Alberto Lacalle Herrera, Julio María Sanguinetti and Jorge Batlle, were characterized by the collective making of major decisions, as well as the
I respect all partners and the positions of each one.
6. Since its creation, Cabildo Abierto has manifested its attachment to the artiguista ideology, today more valid than ever, which rests on two fundamental pillars: the defense of the most fragile in society and respect for the individual sovereignty of the peoples. The
The objectives of any government should be, then, to get the weakest out of their state of fragility with effective policies and prevent them from governing us from the outside, without addressing the pressures of powerful groups.
7. Consequently, considering that the country and its people come first, in a new effort to sustain the “Commitment for the Country” signed on November 5, 2019, the Political Table has decided, by majority, to continue being part of the Coalition in government today. At the same time, it requests the President of the Republic to make every effort to consolidate a coalition with truly republican practices.
8. Notwithstanding this, it will carefully monitor the state of public security and promote the urgent measures that must be adopted to combat the scourge of crime and drug trafficking.
9. Finally, Cabildo Abierto has given itself until the end of this month to seek an urgent legislative solution for irrecoverable debtors and people included in the Clearing. This date responds to two motivations: people do not
it can wait longer and if the parliamentary agreement is not reached we will have to move forward on the path of collecting signatures for a constitutional plebiscite; hence, the deadline that we have imposed. And that is where our efforts will go in the coming
days.
