The opening of the regular legislative sessions of the Congress, in conjunction with the annual report of the Executive Branch, is a historical tradition in South America.According to an analysis by CIPPEC, all constitutions give the President the possibility of inaugurating the ordinary period. While argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela are specified the date on which it should be done (and varies in each country, with the exception of Uruguay and Argentina that coincide on March 1), not in all, the mandatory presence of the first representative. Only in Argentina, Chile, Peru and Venezuela do they require that the President be in Congress and the speech be made in person. In the other cases, there is up to 30 days to submit the Executive.” The Constitutions of Brazil and Ecuador are the only ones that require the President to present a Government Plan and a National Development Plan, respectively, during the opening of legislative sessions”, explains the CIPPEC report.
The case of the United States, which presents the “State of the Union” or “state of the Union’s discourse” every year, has its counterpoint: “Response to the State of the Union”. In other words, an opposition response to the presidential address to Congress.However, at national multi-party it is more difficult to realize this practice because of the difficulty of converging the entire opposition in the same voice than in response to the official speech.
