Scandal as La Libertad Avanza deputies come to blows in Congress

Wednesday’s special session in the Chamber of Deputies ended scandalously with a fistfight between the deputies Oscar Zago (MID-City) and Lisandro Almirón (La Libertad Avanza-Corrientes).

The row began when the latter accused the former of treason by granting quorum for a session requested by Victoria Tolosa Paz (Unión por la Patria-Buenos Aires Province) to debate stripping President Javier Milei of his delegated prerogatives and emergency powers.

After Almirón had dubbed Zago a traitor in language not befitting a family newspaper, an aggrieved deputy waved his fists and started punching Almirón, who removed his jacket to return the blows before being separated by fellow-libertarian Álvaro Martínez. 

Zago added insult to injury when he said that members of La Libertad Avanza were "involved in the [‘$LIBRA’ cryptocurrency] fraud," also saying of Speaker Menem: "His objective is that democracy does not function."

Quorum was made possible by MID deputies Zago, Eduardo Falcone and Ceclia Ibañez, as well as by Impeachment Committee chairperson  Marcela Pagano (La Libertad Avanza-Buenos Aires Province), who opted to remain in the chamber to defend her post which was at issue.

Amid the uproar, Speaker Martín Menem decided not to proceed with the vote on the summons of the committee requested by Unión por la Patria, which would have been entirely in order with 130 deputies present. To the outrage of his political opponents, he decided to adjourn the session with every prospect of an opposition win after a walkout by La Libertad Avanza, PRO and UCR Radical deputies.

"Bring your deputies into line so we can continue,” shouted Máximo Kirchner at Menem, who replied: “I cannot do anything.”

“Then you shouldn’t be Speaker,” retorted Kirchner.

Menem exploited a couple of temporary absences to lift the session finally for lack of quorum, arousing the fury of Unión por la Patria and leftist deputies who ran at the Speaker, who fled the chamber.

Menem was replaced by PRO caucus chief Cristian Ritondo,who came within inches of a new fistfight with picket leader Eduardo Toniolli (Unión por la Patria-Santa Fe), who had to be restrained by Máximo Kirchner. 

Meanwhile more friction erupted within female libertarian ranks when the deputy Rocío Bonacci tossed a glass of water at Lilia Lemoine, who was taking Marcela Pagano to task for “unpardonably” granting quorum while Pagano accused a “violent and aggressive” Lemoine of attacking her for “defending the institutions.”

Supreme Court

Meanwhile in the upper house a special session to quash the nominations of  Manuel García-Mansilla and Ariel Lijo to the Supreme Court as being appointed by decree was requested last Thursday by Kirchnerite Senate caucus chief José Mayans and by fellow-Peronists Anabel Fernandez Sagasti, Silvia Sapag, Juliano Di Tullio and Fernando Salino. 

The Kirchnerites were thus reversing a previous committee ruling in Lijo’s favour after his appointment by decree.

– TIMES/NA