According to the reform approved on Wednesday by the Chamber of Deputies and then in the Senate, the government will be able to buy medicines abroad for public hospitals without going through a tender. Photo: Archive
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MEXICO CITY.
At least the 49 senators of the PAN, PRI, MC and PRD They prepare an unconstitutionality action against the recent reform of the procurement law to allow the State to purchase medications abroadBecause, since its evaluation, it violates Article 134 of the Constitution, in addition to the fact that it will generate various damages to the health of Mexicans and to the jobs of the national pharmaceutical industry.
When we see that thousands of workers who were in the national pharmaceutical industry are on the street asking for jobs, when in a year or two, thousands of girls and boys will not be provided with medicines, when the corpses of cancer patients find death instead of proper treatment, be on everyone’s consciousness, when in a few years we see that the offers of foreign laboratories are only for profit.
And that with the changes that were introduced in the last few minutes do not indicate the existence of any tender, read how the reform was. There is no talk of a tender. There is no talk of compliance with any regulations. An abstract reference is made to constitutional principles; That is why the unconstitutionality action that we are going to propose will be won.
In a few months; in a few years, we will realize that by these decisions history will not absolve them, “said the PRI Beatriz Paredes.
IT IS AN UNNECESSARY REFORM
Dante Delgado, coordinator of the senators of the Citizen Movement, added that they will present this unconstitutional action, because it is an unnecessary reform and flagrantly violates article 134, because it gives excessive, discretionary powers to the authority. “
Alejandra Reynoso, of the PAN, affirmed that “this government intends to legalize opacity and distance itself from its responsibility in dealing with the deep economic and health crisis in which the country is mired.”
Juan Manuel Fócil, senator of the PRD, recalled that “article 134 of the Political Constitution of Mexico establishes the general principles that public procurement must follow. ”
Said precept contemplates that the acquisitions, leases and contracting of State services must be carried out through public tenders, by means of a public call, in order to ensure, for the State itself, the best conditions available in terms of price, quality, financing, opportunity and other relevant circumstances, “added the legislator.
The senators agreed that this decision will cause negative effects even on the health of Mexicans, because not all foreign medicines have the quality levels required in Mexico.
According to the rules to contravene a legislative decisionSenators have the right to file an unconstitutionality action before the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), as long as at least 33% of the members of the plenary session meet.
That is to say, 43 of the 128 senators and the opposition senators add up to a total 49 membersTherefore, they have a sufficient percentage to file an appeal with the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.
THE REFORM IS AGAINST T-MEC
Considering that the reform to the Public Sector Acquisitions, Leasing and Services Law violates Article 134 of the Constitution, legislators from the PAN and the Citizen Movement analyze the presentation of an unconstitutional action before the Supreme Court.
At a press conference with the National Action leadership, Senator Alejandra Reynoso reported that members of her caucus, the Citizen Movement and the PRI expressed concern that the change approved this Wednesday —to make purchases of health supplies abroad— will make tenders an exception.
Senator Reynoso pointed out that the reform is also adverse to the commitments established in the T-MEC, “because there is talk of transparency in government purchases, and that all interested suppliers must participate and present an offer.”
The PAN legislator described as “blackmail” the argument that the reform seeks to buy the vaccine against Covid-19, when what is sought, she said, is “to legalize opacity.”
For its part, Citizen Movement – whose coordinator in the Senate, Dante Delgado, announced this Wednesday that he will lead the unconstitutionality action – issued a statement stating that the reform is “a trap and a fraud to the law.”
For his part, federal deputy Antonio Ortega Martínez (PRD) said that it is false that the central purpose of the reform is to access the vaccine against covid-19.
What is intended is to solve in a bad way, the shortage and look for international suppliers, putting aside companies that provide 160,000 direct jobs and 500,000 indirect jobs, “accused the legislator.
-Ivonne Melgar
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