The president Javier Milei obtained its first victory in the Chamber of Deputies with the approval of the “Law of Bases and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentines” (also known as the “Ómnibus Law”), on Friday night (2).
After three days of debate, the megaproject received 144 affirmative votes against 109 negative votes. Each article must still be treated and voted on separately by deputies before going to the Senate.
In the new version of the text, more than 100 articles were eliminated or modified to speed up approval in the second month of the year. However, the government claims that what was removed will return to Congress in ordinary sessions.
What is the Ómnibus Law?
The unofficial name “Lei Ómnibus” is due to the large number of areas in which it legislates, including health, economy, education and security. Originally, the project launched by the liberal-libertarian president had more than 180 pages and 664 articles divided into twelve chapters. Furthermore, the package adds to the Necessity and Urgency Decree (DNU) announced by the head of State on national television.
“The text includes profound, necessary and urgent reforms in fiscal, labor, criminal, energy and electoral matters,” explained presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni.
Among so many proposals and modifications, the articles that stand out the most are those related to the Public Emergency. As a first measure, the Executive Branch seeks that Congress declare a public emergency in economic, financial, fiscal, social security, defense, tariff, energy, health, administrative and social issues by December 31, 2025.
Another important point is the privatization of public companies. The government seeks to generate “greater competition and economic efficiency, reduce the tax burden, improve the quality of services, promote private investment and professionalize management”.
For its part, the project seeks to implement a regulatory quality policy. The measure aims to simplify, digitalize and reduce administrative bureaucracy, “promoting transparency and due administrative process, as well as alleviating administrative burdens and costs, to obtain efficient regulations for the competitiveness of markets, the creation of jobs and everything that contributes to increasing the standard of living of citizens and the subsequent reduction in poverty rates.” (Article 12)
Internal management control will also be reestablished. The Executive Branch “may carry out public credit operations to restructure public debt and guarantees provided under the terms of articles 62 and 64, through consolidation, conversion or renegotiation, subject to the conditions prevailing in the financial market.” (Article 65)
Under the consumer fiscal transparency regime, it is determined that “the advertising of benefits or services of any type at the national, provincial, municipal and Autonomous City of Buenos Aires levels that are freely accessible or frequented by citizens, cannot be the word 'free' or similar is used, as it clarifies that it is a free access benefit or service paid for by taxpayers' taxes.” (Article 209)
In relation to demonstrations, article 194 stands out, which states that “whoever, without creating a situation of common danger, impedes, hinders or hampers the normal functioning of land, water or air transport or public communication services, water supply, electricity or energetic substances, will be punished with a prison sentence of one to three years and six months”.
Article 344 replaces article 34 of the Penal Code where the right to self-defense is expanded to avoid ambiguous cases that lead to the judicial persecution of victims.
Another important reform is that of the electoral system, which includes the elimination of primary elections (PASO) in its article 433, the establishment of a new system for electing deputies based on single-member constituencies and the modification of closed lists.
In the area of education, articles 545, 548 and 553 propose an exam for all students at the end of high school and a continuous evaluation of teachers. It also makes it possible to charge university fees for foreigners who do not have permanent residence.
Voting
To obtain the minimum quorum to guarantee the approval of any project, 129 votes are needed, which means that Milei's party had to seek at least 91 votes from the other coalitions. The final vote resulted in 144 legislators in favor, 109 against and three abstentions.
Both the officialist bloc of the La Libertad Advances like the party of former president Mauricio Macri, the PROvoted entirely in favor of the bill sent by the Executive Branch, obtaining between them more than 75 seats.
O Federal Innovationformed by a few parliamentarians from the provinces of Misiones, Salta, Neuquén and Rio Negro, also voted in favor, totaling nine positive votes.
The largest parliamentary bloc in Congress, the Peronist and Kirchnerist Union for the Fatherland (UP), voted completely against and contributed 97 negative votes to prevent the approval of the Ómnibus Law.
In the case of Radical Civic Union (UCR)34 deputies voted in favor and only two, more linked to progressivism, voted against.
Let us create a Federal Coalitionanother important party that allowed the text to be approved, also voted divided, 18 were affirmative and four negative.
Finally, the votes against the Workers' Izquierda Front and several minority blocs accounting for a total of six votes.
Modifications to the initial project
With the intention of quickly approving the Ómnibus Law in the Chamber of Deputies, the Freedom Advances gave in to a series of negotiations on the legislation that went from 664 articles in its original format to 523 in the latest version of the text.
Among the first changes is the declaration of “public emergency” in several areas, such as financial, health and security; which delegates powers of the Legislative Branch to the president for one year. The Government agreed to reduce the “emergency” areas so that the package could be approved. The duration of this extraordinary power was also limited from two years to just one, with the possibility of extension for another year (which must be approved by Congress).
Another change was in relation to the privatizations of public sector companies. Previously, the measure affected 36 companies, however, after being processed in the Chamber, 27 were the ones that survived. On the other hand, it was established that, for each privatization, a joint parliamentary committee must analyze the demand.
There was also an elimination of the fiscal chapter that allowed the current government to move forward in reducing the deficit. In principle, the intention was to eliminate the current retirement formula and carry out increases by decree. Faced with the opposition's rejection, it was agreed to maintain the current formula until March and move forward with a monthly inflation update from April onwards.
Many of the points that disappeared from the project, the government warned that it will insist on resuming them from March, when the ordinary sessions begin.
Protests and vandalism
During his treatment in the Chamber of Deputies, dozens of protesters belonging
to social organizations and unions vandalized the streets of Buenos Aires in repudiation of the approval of the Ómnibus Law. There was a confrontation with the police who had to use rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons to contain the attacks.
The government of the City of Buenos Aires filed a criminal complaint to investigate the damage caused in the vicinity of National Congress. The request seeks to identify those responsible for the incidents and charge them for repairing the public road.
For her part, the Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, defended the operation carried out by the security forces and criticized left-wing parliamentarians.
“We all saw the left-wing and Kirchnerist deputies, with Máximo Kirchner at the head, on the streets. Everything is coordinated,” he said in an interview with an Argentine radio station, on Sunday (04).
Bullrich added that lawmakers “go outside to break what they can’t build inside.” “This is not democratic,” he concluded.
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