Javier Milei has reason to celebrate. The opposition in Congress was unable to gather the votes necessary to override the presidential veto of a law passed in August that raised pensioners’ salaries. The far-right politician convinced five deputies from the Radical Civic Union (UCR) at the last minute to reverse their initial position in favor of the increases and thus obtained the third he needed to block the opposition’s insistence. The government counted on the votes of La Libertad Avanza, his party, and that of Pro, the group of former president Mauricio Macri, who aligned himself in favor of the veto despite having supported the law in June during his time in the Lower House. On the other side were the rest: Peronism in all its versions, the Civic Coalition and also the UCR, although now fractured between accusations of treason.
The session lasted five hours and was full of tension, insults and chicanery, in keeping with the tone that Milei has set for political discussions. Outside Congress, hundreds of retirees, supported by Kirchnerist Peronism and left-wing groups, followed the vote, hoping for the legislative veto of the presidential veto. The final scoreboard dashed their hopes: 153 votes in favor of insisting on the law, 87 against and 8 abstentions that turned out to be crucial. The opposition needed 166 votes.
Congress will not be able to insist on a law for the rest of the year. “Today, 87 heroes put a stop to the degenerate prosecutors who tried to destroy the fiscal surplus that we Argentines managed to achieve with so much effort,” wrote Milei on her social networks as soon as the result of the vote was known. “Obviously, politicians continue to think that we Argentines are stupid and we do not see their malicious maneuvers to overthrow a Government that for the first time chooses to tell Argentines an uncomfortable truth instead of a comfortable lie. The zero deficit is NON-NEGOTIABLE, LONG LIVE FREEDOM DAMN IT…!!!,” she added.
REJECTION OF THE INCREASE IN PUBLIC SPENDING
Today 87 heroes put a stop to the degenerate prosecutors who tried to destroy the fiscal surplus that we Argentines managed to achieve with so much effort.
Obviously politicians still think that we Argentines are…
— Javier Milei (@JMilei) September 11, 2024
Thursday’s vote puts an end to a back-and-forth between Milei and the opposition that has lasted three months. The cut in public spending that Milei’s chainsaw has been carrying out is sustained by 30% in the adjustment of pension benefits – according to the diagnosis of the Congressional Budget Office. Although the president had established by decree at the end of March to increase pensions following the evolution of inflation, he had excluded a total compensation of the loss suffered by pensions during the first months of his administration, when inflation shot up only in December to 25% monthly. The Chamber of Deputies challenged the official strategy and in June gave partial sanction to a project to increase pensions. The Senate finally turned it into law in August and Milei vetoed it a week later. He said then that “the rats” that have a seat in Congress were only looking to dynamite the fiscal balance achieved at the beginning of his mandate.
The law was a modification to the system devised by Milei: it added 8.1% to August salaries to compensate for what was lost in January, established that the updates, in addition to inflation, should take into account the evolution of salaries and, the point that most upset the Government, established a minimum floor of 1.09 basic baskets for the lowest-earning retirees. In practice, this meant setting the lowest pensions at 320,000 pesos (320 dollars at the official exchange rate), an increase of 15 dollars. At the time it even had the support of the Pro, but hours after its approval former President Macri announced that he would support a possible presidential veto. This Wednesday, his party finally voted in favor of the interests of the Government.
The Casa Rosada won an important battle in its declared war against “the caste.” This Thursday it will have a second round, this time in the Senate, where the veto approved by the House of Representatives to a presidential decree that granted 100 million extra dollars to the operation of the intelligence services could become law. Faced with the imminence of a defeat, Milei met this Wednesday with senators considered “dialoguists.” The idea is that the direct pressure of the president, who detests everything that smacks of political negotiation, will erect a wall of containment for Kirchnerism, which is the majority in the Upper House.
Subscribe here to the newsletter of THE COUNTRY America and receive all the latest news from the region.
#opposition #Milei #fails #attempt #override #presidential #veto #pension #increase