The imposing march in support of the public university broke the political agenda and the reactions in the following few days mix bewilderment and minor calculation. The Government maintains its discourse against attempts to take advantage of the protest, but exposes signs of impact -with internal foothills- and changes officials to negotiate with the rectors. On the other side, and especially in the imagination of the hard opposition, they want to see themselves as protagonists of a wave that would place them like nothing in the role of interpreters of the demand and promoted in Congress some staging with the hope of capitalizing on the issue. Poor readings.
The same week concludes with significant advances between the ruling party and the “dialogue” blocs to discuss in the Chamber of Deputies the limited draft of the Bases Law and its counterpart, the fiscal package highly discussed with the majority of the governors. If finally the political double pact is crowned, it will be after new deliveries of presidential speech with a tone of defiance and disqualification of “the” politics.
The negotiation, fruit of a complex reality -the success of the runoff but also the legislative representation and the power of the governors-, is visible. And the Government’s “narrative” only tries to dress the exercise of concessions from both sides. What is striking, seen from the perspective of the massive protest, is that the university issue barely appeared in specific complaints from some legislators. Instead, It was not a central issue. of spaces willing to a political pact nor of Peronism/Kirchnerism, which also does not assume the backpack of their own budget cuts and the tendency to sectarianizeAlso, the academic field.
The gestures, with the question about their scope, followed one another quickly after the street demonstration spearheaded and nurtured centrally by the student movement. The Government seeks to renew the air in the relationship with the rectors of public universities. As it turned out, It would not only be the formal appointment with the CIN. For now, she ran or put the official in the background most questioned by university authorities.
The Undersecretary of University Policies, Alejandro Alvarezhad been openly questioned by his interlocutors: at the very least, they pointed him out as the tough player of the ministry, who due to the given place or his own characteristics It reached the point of maltreatment, even insulting.. Anyway, the next meeting with the rectors would be headed by Sandra Pettovello and the Secretary of Education, Carlos Torrendellwhich also generates some misgivings.
The impact of the march It also had an internal record. Formal and informal spokespersons highlighted that it was ratified presidential support for the minister. Of course – taking into account the enormity of its area and budgetary needs – Pettovello faces tensions with Luis Caputo. The fights with Economy are almost natural. The new information is that the future of the aforementioned undersecretary was under discussion, and that is something that would also touch on Santiago Caputoof increasing weight in political negotiations and reserved negotiations that affect different management spaces.
However, domestic tensions do not constitute the transcendent point that the university march exposed. Said in the form of a question: Why does this topic have such a social impact? The question arises in comparison with other sectoral protests and, above all, in front of the broader consequences of the delicate economic and social situation. It would not only be of discredit or wear of its conveners, from union leaders to picketers. It seems clear that, even with declines in collective perception, public education continues to occupy a sensitive place for a large part of society.
In the case of the Government, Not taking this factor into account led to a bad initial calculation.. The surveys, beyond the objections generated by some surveys, point out in different ways considerable margins of tolerance for the adjustment, not only due to the decreasing inflation figures. In that climate, strengthened in ruling circlesthe university mobilization was a shock, which It was not limited to the Plaza de Mayo and had massive expressions in several provinces.
The beginning of next week will be decisive to evaluate if it really exists political will to get the budget issue of the universities back on track, in addition to putting the issue of audits on a reasonable scale. It is scheduled for Tuesday the meeting of rectors of public universities and national officials. And they are not discarded previous contacts.
If the talks progress, they would also give a less tense frame to the fights to discuss the budget issue in Congress. It is an effect opportunist in some cases –pathetic, in others- of the demand expressed by the mobilizations. He initially failed in the attempt to exploit the issue by the UxP bloc: he did not obtain a number for a special session in the Deputies. Now, the result of the moves promoted by legislators from the UCR and other blocs considered dialogue-oriented is pending.
Speculation about the less visible effects of the university call They also reach the decisive chapter of the political and fiscal pact in Deputies. It would have increased the need for a first legislative achievement of the ruling partysomething that, it is known, would also have an impact on the external front and not only on the markets.
The fiscal package, explained as a deal of some relief for the provinces, obtained an opinion from the Budget and Finance Commission, centered on a partial reversal of Profits, a new laundering and modifications to Personal Assets, in addition to a moratorium and changes and adaptation of the monotax regime. The Base Law passed the test of a plenary session of commissions, after unlocking the last point of contention -the labor reform, which ended in a very limited version- and guarantee commitments on respect for the tax origin of the trust funds that are disarmed.
Of course, and with the specter of the fall of the initial projector of the Omnibus Law, the doubts about the treatment of some items that arrive with dissidents. And to that is added the uncertainty about the numbers tighter in the Senate. First, of course, you must pass the Deputies test. And on the path of the hard opposition, the question is different: it revolves around the game of some PJ governors and its projection in Congress. Part of this story will be visible at the start of next week.
