Ecuador’s new Assembly is getting ready to debate several high profile bills during the first 100 days of their session.

Alianza PAIS, the left-leaning “citizen’s revolution” party has dominated Ecuador’s political landscape since the election of Rafael Correa as president in 2007. This legislative period will be no exception: PAIS has a comfortable and unprecedented majority in the Assembly. They hold 100 out of 137 seats: enough of a majority to amend the constitution.

Laws and law amendments that are on the docket include:

1) The first item the President has sent to the Assembly consists of amendments to the mining law (“Ley de Minería”). Correa has said that the current law has impeded foreign investment, and “investors have proposed reasonable amendments that we’ve taken into account.” Amendments proposed include that taxes on profits* be charged only after the initial investment has been recovered by the company. The amendments would also define what constitutes a mid-range mining operation, with hope to encourage more companies to start mines of that size (a suggested output of 300 to 1000 tonnes of mineral a day). The committee has ten days to draft their bill.

2) The Assembly’s new president Gabriela Rivadeneira has stated that the controversial communications law (“Ley de Communicación”) will be dealt with in the first 100 days. Although the bill is ready to be voted on, Rivadeneira says they would like to re-shape the regulatory Communications Board the law would create. The bill will not go back to commission: any changes will be dealt with in the Assemblys plenary session.

3) The “Ley de Aguas”, a law regulating water resources, has been going through the required public consultation process for the past few months. Along the way, it has faced sharp opposition from the indigenous communities that are entitled to take active part in crafting any laws affecting their lands. Last month, the Andean indigenous people’s congress elected a leader who vowed to continue the opposition to the Ley de Aguas.

4) The reform of the Penal Code is also a high priority for this legislature, but is probably too large a project to complete in the first 100 days.

The executive and the legislative branches have already shown an eagerness to work with each other: yesterday, Correa recieved the president and two vice-presidents of the Assembly at the presidential palace for an extended, closed door meeting to establish their priorities (Sp).

"We must have permanent meetings between the heads of the legislative and executive functions. Its a horizontal relationship. We have nothing to hide: what were going to do is carry out our democracy and the political project people voted for. This relationship will be closer and will work smoother. Now that we have an absolute majority, we will be able to move forward even faster in building the country that  the vast mayority of Ecuadorians want," Correa said. 

*The profits affected are “ganancias extraordinarias,” or extraordinary profits. For example, if the mining company signs a contract based on gold selling for $1,000 an ounce, and global gold prices increase to $1,500, that extra $500 is the “extraordinary profit” that is heavily taxed by Ecuador (90 percent, in the case of oil companies). Under the new law, it wouldn’t be taxed at all until the company recovered however much its initial investment in Ecuador was.