Within the structure of the municipality there is - in accordance with the Organic Law of Municipal Public Power (LOPPM, 2010) - the so-called deliberative or legislative function. It is represented by the Municipal Council (CM).
This means that it has parliamentary powers.
The public agents that make the legislative body possible are called Councilors, who are popularly elected officials, which is why they fall within the categories of electoral processes established by national legislation, which means that they are governed by the Electoral Power as indicates the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (1999).
They have support staff for management: civil servants, contractors and workers.
The LOPPM establishes that the number of councilors must be proportional to the population of the municipality, for which it has scales as follows:
- Up to fifteen thousand inhabitants, five councilors. From fifteen thousand and one to one hundred thousand inhabitants, seven councilors. From one hundred thousand one to three hundred thousand inhabitants, nine councilors. From three hundred thousand one to six hundred thousand inhabitants, eleven councilors. From six hundred thousand one inhabitants and more, thirteen councilors.
Following the electoral legislation, it will correspond how many are those of nominal type and those called by list.
To be a councilor you must be of Venezuelan nationality, over twenty-one years of age, residing in the municipality for which you choose - at least - the last three years prior to your election.
It was discussed in doctrine and jurisprudence about the possibility of collecting labor benefits, to which the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic opposed, based on the fact that the expected remuneration is a diet and not salary or salary. For many years the councilors tried to receive those, which the municipal comptrollers opposed, because they argued that they did not receive a salary and, therefore, could not be subject to them.
Following the meaning expressed in Manuel Ossorio's Dictionary of Legal, Political and Social Sciences, he indicates that it is "… Honorary that officials of various orders accrue during the days that they carry out a commission that has been entrusted to them"; Another of the meanings is "… Stipend given to those who execute commissions or commissions for each day that they take care of them, or for the time they spend in carrying them out…".
If this definition is compared with that of salary, referred to in the Organic Labor Law (2012), which says: "Salary is understood as remuneration, profit or advantage, whatever its denomination or calculation method, always that can be evaluated in cash, which corresponds to the worker for the provision of his service and, among others, includes commissions, bonuses, bonuses, participation in profits or profits, bonuses, vacation bonus, as well as surcharges for holidays, overtime or night work, food or housing… ”; It is evidenced that the diet is not expressly included within what is contained in this legal definition and, if there is no salary, even less salary incidence or charge concepts based on the salary for working.
To this is also added that they are not workers, but public servants by popular choice, just as they are not recognized as having an impact on salary or social benefits.
Returning to the concept of emolument, the diet is included there, since it originates from a local parliamentary work session.
All this basis of allegation put many municipal attorney generals in trouble, since they did not think in favor of the legislators, since they took as a source or argument what was expressed by the Comptroller General of the Republic.
The word diet is outlined in the Organic Law of Municipal Public Power (LOPPM, 2010), when referring to the councilors when it indicates that, if they do not present “… the surrender of their legislative and political management of the immediately previous year…, they will be suspended the diet until its presentation… "
