The Argentine Congress held yesterday the first debate session of the so-called 'omnibus law', the controversial package of reforms proposed by the libertarian president Javier Milei, who after complicated negotiations achieved conditional support from allies and part of the opposition.
(Also: Key day for Milei reforms: Chamber of Deputies begins discussion of 'omnibus law')
The ruling minority (38 out of 257 deputies) announced that it obtained the necessary support to approve “in general” an Omnibus Law of economic, political, security and environmental reforms of 386 articles, a record length that will require several days of debate to later vote on them.
“The project is controversial, but only for those who want to take care of their privileges, which come from the previous model that brought us here, to this place of misery, destitution,” said the liberal official deputy José Luis Espert when starting the debate.
(You can read: Argentina's appeal court declares the labor reform decreed by Milei invalid)
The opposition anticipated yesterday that the project will undergo changes and, in fact, the debate began with the ruling party listing a long list of articles removed from the original ruling.
The Peronist opposition, which governed until last December, and the left-wing minority (a total of 104 deputies) reject the projectwhich includes granting Milei “delegated” legislative powers, which alarm his critics.
“This is not a law, this is a (gross) exchange,” said left-wing deputy and former presidential candidate Myriam Bregman as soon as the session began.
(Keep reading: First 'casualty' from Milei's cabinet: what will happen to the Ministry of Infrastructure?)
The final result will depend after the “article by article” vote on the law, where several key reforms may be rejected, such as the partial or total privatization of 41 public companies that the opposition considers of national strategic value.
Some articles of the law “are still a matter of negotiation,” said centrist deputy Martín Tetaz, who – like the rest of the opposition – began the session without having a definitive copy of the changes discussed with the ruling party.
Once approved, the law will go to the Upper House, where The ruling party has only seven of the 72 senators, but hopes to reissue the alliances of the Chamber of Deputies.
(Also: Milei will create anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office to investigate public officials in Argentina)
The initiative took almost a month to reach the plenary session of the Lower House, after passing through various parliamentary committees and the intense negotiations that the ruling party, with a negligible weight in Parliament, had to face with allies and opponents in search of support for the project. .
These negotiations led the Government to make the decision to withdraw the tax reform chapter of the project, which included, among others, the increase in export duties and the personal property tax, money laundering and modifications to the increase formula. of retirements.
Also excluded were the transfer to the National Treasury of the assets (minority shares of the State in private companies) of the Guarantee and Sustainability Fund of the social security system; the reform of the fishing regime; limitations on the right to protest; and changes to the electoral system, among other articles that were in the original project.
Likewise, the oil company YPF, the nuclear power plant manager Nucleoeléctrica, Banco Nación and the satellite company Arsat were removed from the list of 40 companies that Milei intends to privatize, an idea strongly resisted by the opposition.
(Also read: Despite protests, Milei achieves support in Congress for the State reform law)
However, There remain articles that have generated great controversy, especially the one by which Parliament delegates to Milei for one year, extendable to another, broad powers that are typical of the Legislature in various fields, including the economic one, by virtue of the emergency that Argentina is experiencing. , mired in a serious fiscal, inflationary and social situation.
Meanwhile, called by leftist and union organizations, thousands of people gathered yesterday in front of the headquarters of the Argentine Congress in Buenos Aires.
The project is controversial, but only for those who want to take care of their privileges, which come from the previous model that brought us here, to this place of misery, destitution.
The mobilization passed without incident until after 5:30 in the afternoon local time (3:30 in the afternoon in Colombia), when the protesters interrupted traffic in front of the parliamentary headquarters, violating the strict security protocol and motivating the action of police officers.
(Also: The murder of a 9-year-old girl revives the debate on security in Argentina)
In principle, La Libertad Avanza, Milei's right-wing force and with minimal parliamentary weight, would have about 140 votes – among its own, allies and some opposition sectors. that allow it to achieve general approval in the Deputies, a body with 257 seats.
INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL
*With information from AFP and EFE
#Argentina #Javier #Milei39s #reform #plan #faces #parliamentary #challenge