Paraguay
The Paraguayan Senate Returns to the Request to Summon Claudia Centurión for Questioning
The initiative will be debated again this Wednesday in the Upper House. According to ABC Color, the opposition is seeking to secure an absolute majority to summon the Minister of Public Works and Communications.
Paraguay’s Senate will again review this Wednesday the request to summon and question the Minister of Public Works and Communications, Claudia Centurión, in a vote that will also serve to determine whether the 23 votes needed out of a total of 45 members are available.
According to ABC Color, the item appears as the eighth point on the agenda for the regular session. The proposal was submitted by Líder Amarilla, Yolanda Paredes, Rafael Filizzola, Ever Villalba, Rubén Velázquez, José Ledesma, Enrique Salyn Buzarquis, José Oviedo, Celeste Amarilla and Lucía Mendoza.
The motion had initially been included in the August 26 session, but its consideration was postponed for 22 days at the request of Líder Amarilla, who argued that he needed more official documentation from the MOPC to refine the questions addressed to the minister.
According to ABC Color, the outlook remains open because the president of the Senate, Basilio “Bachi” Núñez, has already expressed his rejection of the request, as has the head of the ruling bloc, Natalicio Chase. Without the backing of the cartismo and its allies, the opposition sectors would not reach the required votes.
The presentation falls under Article 193 of the National Constitution and Law No. 164/93, provisions that establish that the questioning must be approved by an absolute majority.
The questionnaire is linked to the accident that occurred on August 15 at the traffic-light intersection in the Pedrozo district, in Ypacaraí, where five people died, according to the bill’s explanatory statement. The senators promoting the measure argue that the case must be examined beyond the individual responsibility of the driver, with a focus on road safety and the obligations of the MOPC.
Among the points they want clarified are what information the ministry had, what warnings it received, what measures it adopted and which ones remained pending in that stretch. They are also requesting data on the award of the Rutas del Este PPP, its financial and maintenance costs, the amendments incorporated into the contract and whether the Ypacaraí-Areguá stretch was affected by those changes.
In addition, the lawmakers are asking whether the project originally contemplated works or precautionary measures for the Pedrozo area, what work was carried out during Centurión’s tenure to prevent accidents and whether there is an official record of crashes in the area, along with any complaints from residents or local authorities to remove the traffic light and apply a technical solution.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
