Frente PRO chairman Cristian Ritondo was one of the architects of the first reading of the omnibus bill in the lower house. He assures that "proposals to overcome” deadlock were found while commenting on the coalition colleagues voting against.
Lawmakers "[Facundo] Manes and [Margarita] Stolbizer do not believe a change to be necessary,” he declares.
In an interview, he discusses what his caucus plans to do this week and the details of the debate.
What balance would you draw from the [bill’s] first reading in the Chamber of Deputies?
A positive balance for Argentines because we have to become a normal country and the first reading for the ‘Ley de Bases’ was an advance towards many of the changes we need to leave behind a model which only brought us poverty, inflation, a breakdown of the work ethic and an unviable country.
Of course there were points we did not share and where we offered proposals to improve them which in many cases were accepted by the government while in others those points were withdrawn from the bill.
I believe the balance to be positive because necessary changes are proposed while supplying the government with the tools to advance with the government plan chosen by most Argentines a few months ago.
Why were at least half the articles cut out of the original bill?
It was a very extended and complex bill for treatment in such a short time and in extraordinary sessions and originally containing a huge number of articles covering many areas of socio-economic life. That made it difficult for the government to obtain the consensus needed to pass its original bill.
Do you think the government was yielding to the opposition with these amendments?
I don’t know if “yield” is the right word, in any case the government listened and was ready for dialogue with a responsible opposition which understood that the country needs to advance with many of the changes pushed by this law. Next Tuesday we will be resuming the debate to vote on the amendments article by article where I am not expecting any big changes on what has already been approved.
"The most important thing is supplying the government with the tools it needs to attack inflation, unblock the economy and advance with deregulation."
How could this law change society?
The most important thing is supplying the government with the tools it needs to attack inflation, unblock the economy and advance with deregulation, as well as providing trade and production with greater liberty. This is a start for many other changes where we must advance if we want to leave behind an exhausted model which has left the country broke without creating jobs and only producing poverty and despair.
Do you think the fiscal package should be debated?
Without doubt that is a discussion we owe ourselves as a country and when the ordinary sessions begin in March, we will debate it for sure. Discussing how to lower the deficit as soon as possible is the key if we want to eradicate the inflation which causes us so much damage. That’s why withdrawal of that chapter by the government seemed a correct decision to me since it was blocking the advance of first reading for the bill so that the fiscal issues can soon be discussed with greater focus and depth.
As a PRO leader do you think that it will give President [Javier] Milei governance?
es. We have been committed from Day One to accompanying the government responsibly. PRO has always been disposed to support the change chosen by Argentines. Our caucus demonstrated that when discussing this law – we have a solid team with technical experts and very important politicians, which is necessary for this historic context of Argentina. Our caucus has worked intensely on this law, studying every article, proposing improvements and presenting objections to those points we believed to signify a step back. We did so because we believe in this country. We believe that we can move ahead despite being governed today by another political party. Argentina’s political system of alliances has been in a process of reconfiguration.
PRO is committed to defending change and will continue working towards the construction of a modern, competitive, fair and republican Argentina.
In the particular cases of Manes y Stolbizer, despite having competed for Juntos por el Cambio in recent elections, they evidently do not believe that this country needs a change which they are perhaps not inclined to accept or at least not the change voted by most Argentines.
Comments