With 42 votes against and 25 in favor, the controversial 'decree of necessity and urgency' (DNU) proposed by the Argentine president, Javier Milei, which includes more than 600 articles to deregulate the Argentine economy, was rejected this Thursday, March 14 by the Senate, which argued unconstitutionality in the regulatory package. At the moment it remains in force, since it has not yet been put to a vote in the Chamber of Deputies, where the ruling party is a minority.
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The Argentine Government takes another hard blow in the Legislative Branch. The opposition bench, with the support of provincial parties and the Radical Civic Union, rejected this Thursday, March 14, with a large majority, one of the star proposals of the libertarian platform of the current Argentine president, Javier Milei, which includes the repeal of some 80 laws and the modification of 300 others.
“This decree is absolutely null and void for taking provisions that are the powers of the Legislative Branch,” exclaimed José Mayans, Peronist senator for the Unión por la Patria party.
It is the first time that the Senate rejects a decree of necessity and urgency (DNU) in Argentine democratic history.
Signed by Javier Milei on December 29, 2023, the DNU is combined with the controversial 'Omnibus Law' as the political banners of the new libertarian Government, which justifies them as emergency measures to confront the crisis facing the country.
After coming into force without the vote of the Legislative Branch, being a presidential decree, the DNU has managed to stabilize the Argentine fiscal and commercial balances, in the midst of an inflation that last month touched 276% and a poverty rate that increases exponentially and 57% of the total population is already affected.
Although the decree was to be addressed in both chambers 10 days after its signing, the vice president and leader of the Senate, Victoria Villarruel, had managed to delay the debate, thanks to her negotiating stance with the opposition.
After months, failing to achieve any convincing agreement for both parties, Villarruel finally called a session to debate the DNU. A decision that does not make the tenant of the Casa Rosada happy.
Fracture between Milei and Villarruel
After the debate materialized in the Senate, the presidential office released a strong statement through its social networks, indirectly attacking the vice president and pointing out that “some sectors of the political class intend to advance with their own and unconsulted agenda.”
“The Government's decision was not to deal with it. We have no idea what commitments were made and why it was included in the agenda,” an official from the Casa Rosada told the Argentine newspaper 'La Nación'.
Tensions between Milei and her vice president increased with the rejection of the DNU. For months now, Villarruel's figure has been questioned by the high echelons of the Presidency, arguing that he has an agenda independent of what the libertarian proposed and that he moves within the political sphere without first consulting with the head of state.
Villarruel responded to the questions by appealing to the defense of democracy.
“I am not going to become Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the Senate is the House of the provinces and an independent power,” expressed the Argentine vice president through a video published on her social networks, moments after the DNU was rejected by the Argentine Upper House.
Without institutions there is no government. Those who brought us here continue to obstruct. Everything for Argentina! 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/gfbMkyAgFy
— Victoria Villarruel (@VickyVillarruel) March 15, 2024
The opposition highlighted the alleged division in the Executive Branch and launched a direct attack on Milei's attitudes since he arrived at the Casa Rosada, at the end of 2023.
“They have to respect the Constitution, the division of powers, we are not their employees. They say they are angry with the vice president because she called a session. Don't they know that we are in ordinary sessions? She had no way to avoid it,” said Mayans.
After the 'no' of the Senate, the DNU will have to go to a vote in the Chamber of Deputies, where, if it does not pass, it will be permanently repealed.
Being a minority in the Lower House, the ruling party will seek to have the president of the body, Martín Menem, delay the debate within the Argentine chamber as much as possible.
First of all, it seems that the controversial DNU would be going through its last moments as a current norm in Argentina, which represents a severe setback for Milei's libertarian project.
Read alsoMilei orders by decree to deregulate the Argentine economy; The announcement sparks protests and banging pots and pans
With EFE, Reuters and local media
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