The Center for Judicial Studies (CEJ) launched the popular initiative “Draft Law on Abuse of Public Function.” It is the first popular electronic initiative in the history of Paraguay, so that Paraguayans and Paraguayans can turn it into law.
Citizen promoters of the popular initiative:
The promoters of the popular initiative are Robert Cano, María Victoria Rivas, Benjamín Fernández Bogado, Soledad Villagra de Biedermann and Faustina Sósima Alvarenga Pérez.
Robert Cano explained at a press conference that citizens can enter the website of the Superior Court of Electoral Justice (TSJE) (https://www.tsje.gov.py/) to vote for some of them. The Popular Initiative section is visible at the beginning of the page, right in the center of the upper part, so that it can be quickly found by the user.
Each initiative needs 48,721 signatures to force Congress or the Municipal Board to deal with it.
“The new signature of citizen participation consists of the fact that projects can be presented to Congress and the Boards with the process of collecting signatures. Now it will be much easier and can be done online. Paraguay is the first country that implements it, that is encouraged to take the step, to support popular initiatives through technology, ”he explained.
How does it work
Any technological device allows citizens to vote. You just have to enter the TSJE page. There the section on popular initiatives appears as a central figure. Entering there, the user goes back to all the popular initiatives and must enter the ones they want to support. To sign, you only have to put two numbers, one is the number of your ID and the second, the number of the barcode that is behind your ID. The procedure takes about 30 seconds.
On the popular initiative
The National Constitution of 1992 incorporated the figure of “Popular Initiative” in its article No. 123, but the process for presenting a popular initiative project was always cumbersome and long, taking into account that a percentage of handwritten signatures and printed forms must be achieved. . For this reason, very few were the popular initiatives promoted from 1992 to date.
Law No. 6983/22, recently promulgated, seeks to modernize the procedures for promoting popular initiatives, incorporating the use of electronic signatures to support bills or municipal ordinances that arise at the initiative of the citizens.
With this new law, any citizen, through their electronic signature, will be able to support a bill from wherever they are, signing from their computer, cell phone, tablet or any other mobile device that has an internet connection.
