Speaking at the same seminar, Elena Viyella de Paliza, president of the National Council of Private Businesses (CONEP), told her audience that the root causes of the problems in the sector were caused by not applying the General Law of Electricity, and by not punishing the violators of the law. The outspoken business leader emphasized that the business community wants the law to be applied, and that the rights of the non-regulated users be respected as provided for by the law. She pointed out that just recently there was an attempt to circumvent the law by saying that the economic situation of the country made the application of the law most difficult. Viyella de Paliza called this scenario ?inconceivable? because the energy problem cannot be tied to party politics nor private interests, because it requires a national solution. One of her main points was that as long as the national system is not capable of providing a steady service at a competitive price for all the clients, the government must respect the rights acquired by those industries that invested in their own power plants. These are generators that were installed not because the industrialists wanted to do so but because they had to do so in order to survive. The CONEP leader pushed for a national consensus that would solve the energy problems, especially since the local industries cannot ?compete in the global economy with unreliable, expensive and poor quality electricity.?