After six months of back and forth, which included setbacks and frustrations for the ruling party, The Government celebrates this Thursday the final approval of the Ley Bases and the fiscal packagewhich were endorsed by a majority opinion in the Chamber of Deputies.
The body chaired by Martín Menem has been in session since noon this Thursday, and There is an agreement between La Libertad Avanza (LLA) and the dialoguers to accept the changes in the Senatealthough they will insist on the reinstatement of the Income Tax and the modifications to Personal Property. At the same time, they face the debate without the privatization of Aerolíneas, the Post Office and the public media.
The questions of privilege were raised at the beginning, while the tributes and a statement on the situation in Bolivia were decided to be left for the end of the session. In this way, from noon and for almost three hours, the debate on the Bases Law was delayed due to the large number of privilege issues raised.
Authoritarians don’t like this
The practice of professional and critical journalism is a fundamental pillar of democracy. That is why it bothers those who believe they are the owners of the truth.
15:00 – Lilia Lemoine against a deputy from the Left: “Man, stop making a fool of yourselves”
Libertarian deputy and friend of Javier Milei, Lilia Lemoine, criticized her left-wing counterpart Alejandro Vilca for questioning the government’s position after the attempted coup in Bolivia. “They did not comment on what the attempted coup in Bolivia was,” complained Vilca.
“Let’s see how Congressman Vilca relates the attempted coup in Bolivia with the libertarians… Man, stop making fools of yourselves. Those who carried out the attempted coup were CLEARLY MACRI WITH TRUMP. And Mazinger,” said Lemoine with irony.
14:50 – Alejandro Vilca targeted Milei and Villarruel for not speaking out about the coup d’état in Bolivia
The national deputy of the Left Front Alejandro Vilca today criticized the president Javier Milei already the vice president Victoria Villarruel for not having spoken out personally against the attempted coup d’état in Bolivia.
“This question of privilege is against Milei and Villarruel, because they did not comment on what the coup attempt in Bolivia was. It’s serious, the news spread around the world“lamented the Jujuy deputy.
“In these coups, three aspects are repeated: a poor population, important strategic resources and also big business. These are imperialist interests with their eyes set on Bolivia but also on northern Argentina and northern Chile,” he said.
“Let us remember the sayings of the general (of the US Southern Command, Laura) Richardson Regarding the lithium triangle, those are the real interests at play in the coups in South America and in these coups,” he concluded.
14:10 – Carla Carrizo announced that she will support the Bases Law with the Senate’s modifications
The national representative of the Radical Civic Union Carla Carrizo stated that the changes in the Upper House are “improvements” to the official project.
In this regard, Carrizo stressed that “Aerolíneas Argentinas, Correo Argentino and RTA will not be privatized blindly, the closure of organizations that had been left unprotected is impossible, labor reform is being deepened and the RIGI was improved with the incorporation of SMEs, among others.”
13:35 – Santoro: “Being popular is not the same as being prestigious, prestigious are Lula (Brazil) or Lacalle Pou (Uruguay)
National deputy of Union for the Fatherland, Leandro Santoro, asked President Javier Milei to “mind his words” and said that “he is a weak president.”
“What will the President of the Nation do when the markets turn their backs on him? He will have to come to this House to seek political support. Here we must understand that the origin of the President’s power is an origin that conditions his political practice. He is a structurally weak President even though he is strong in the current situation. He cannot make the mistake of fighting with the Judiciary, the Legislative Power and politics because at some point things can get difficult in Argentina,” he said.
During the questions of privilege at the beginning of the debate on the Bases Law, Santoro warned: “Being popular is not the same as being prestigious. The president is prestigious Lula (Brazil) or Lacalle Pou (Uruguay)“What we are seeing is a kind of defeat of politics at the altar of communication that can lead Argentina to a situation of extreme weakness.”
“That is why I ask the President to measure his words and for this body to stop taking seriously what is said in the media and that we all try to build a serious democracy,” he concluded.
13:05 – Pettovello is asked to go to Congress to explain what to do about poverty
The national deputy of Union for the Homeland, Pablo Yedlinrequested that the Minister of Human Capital, Sandra Pettovelloattend the National Congress to explain “what he is going to do about poverty in Argentina” and “the food emergency.”
“The INDEC announced to us an enormous increase in inequality in Argentina. The increase in poverty is not only an increase in poverty in Argentina but also generates more inequality in Argentina. We increased poverty in this government and especially in the most backward deciles in access to Argentina”, expressed Yedlin during the questions of privilege at the beginning of the debate on the Bases Law.
In this context, the legislator added: “The Minister of Human Capital must come to explain to us what she is going to do about poverty in Argentina, what she is going to do about the food emergency that Argentina is experiencing today. I also want to extend this to the Minister of Health of the Nation. At first they freed the price of prepaid health insurance, they raised the price and then they said they were forming cartels and now they are freeing the price again. So, what is the idea?”
12:50 – Stolbizer questioned Milei for accusing legislators of promoting a Coup d’état
The deputy of We Make the Federal Coalition Margarita Stolbizer criticized the president’s insults Javier Milei towards national legislators and pointed to his words during an award ceremony in Germany. “Talking about a coup d’état from the exercise of our legislative activity is unsustainable,” he expressed.
Stolbizer pointed out that the president should promote “democratic coexistence” based on the consensus of democracy and that he cannot disqualify those who think differently.
12:35 – Session begins
The special session to approve the draft law on the Bases and the Fiscal Package, which includes the reinstatement of the Income Tax, has begun in the Chamber of Deputies.
The President of the Chamber of Deputies, Martin Menem, The session began at 12:29 when he counted 131 national deputies sitting on their benches.
11:50 – Martín Menem: “It is the most important reform in history”
The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Martin Menemhighlighted that the Bases Law is “the most important reform in the history” of Argentina.
“It is the most important reform in history, by size. If it is the most important, half a year does not seem like much to me. It can always be improved and it would have been better if it had been done earlier,” said the head of the Lower House in statements to the press.
In the case of The Basic Law will be resolved by a single vote on the entire textsupporting all the changes implemented by the Senate, which also includes the privatization package without Aerolíneas Argentinas, the Post Office and the public media.
In this sense, national deputies from the Union for the Fatherland (UxP), the Left Front (FIT) and the socialist Esteban Paulón celebrated yesterday with workers from these companies that At least in this instance the ruling party has put aside its attempt to privatize them.
Without enough votes after the decline of Hacemos Coalición Federal and a significant part of the radicalism (who cited regulatory issues to justify their positions), the ruling party had to settle for supporting the Senate text. However, it has already been revealed that will return to the fray later with specific laws to privatize public companies that were left out.
The elimination of the pension moratorium was also left out of the ruling., a topic that would cause a strong stir if it were decided to insist on it given that the chapter had been removed from the text that was submitted for consideration in the Senate. In this way, the special regime that allows regularizing pension debts and granting retirement to people who did not reach 30 years of contributions to the SIPA will remain in force.
The Bases Law reaches the floor with a broad agreement but the controversy over the “double conformity” takes off
For its part, The fiscal package will have four votes in total, starting with article 111 on tax expenses that seeks to eliminate the special regimes of provinces like Tierra del Fuego. However, the outlook does not look encouraging in that regard, since it was rejected in the upper house with two-thirds of the votes.
The second vote in particular will be that of Profitsand then it will be put to the vote Personal property. The last vote will be for the rest of the articles of the Tax Law as a whole.
Optimism of the ruling party for Profits
Until yesterday, the LLA troops and the dialogue blocks suggested that the restitution of the Income Tax was on a tightrope, but as the hours went by, the talk became more refined and the votes appeared, drop by dropwhich brought relief. The pressure exerted by the governors of different political parties, who yesterday marked the playing field in the Federal Investment Council, was a factor that influenced the gathering of the votes that were lacking.
Although the government has nothing to spare, It will only require a simple majority of votes (half plus one of those present) to rescue Profits, which encourages the prospects of victory. The base of support that supports the official expectation is similar to that achieved in the half-sanction at the end of April, when 132 affirmative votes were obtained.
Ley Bases: the Government accepted the Senate’s modifications and there will be a session this Thursday
Turning point in libertarian management
Although the number is small, The final sanction will be a milestone and a turning point in the libertarian administration due to the volume of reforms contained in each of these two laws, which for President Javier Milei constitute the necessary toolboxes to repair the damage to the Argentine economy.
Beyond the content of the reforms, most of which were still within the reach of the Executive Branch through decrees, what is truly relevant about the final sanction is the political message that manages to radiate outwards, especially towards investors.
In a scenario of such economic instability, with the country risk skyrocketing, Argentine stocks and bonds plummeting and the parallel dollar at record values, the news that The Government managed to convince the political system through parliamentary agreements which crystallized into flagship laws.
In this way, with these regulations under our belt, The president will lead the postponed “May Pact” on July 9 in Tucumánon the occasion of Independence Day. After having accused Congress of being a “rat’s nest” and of attacking the opposition in dialogue on repeated occasions, the staging that Milei is preparing for that date will be his way of closing the wounds, turning the page and crowning this process that took six months of exhausting negotiations.
MB / ED
