Argentina's lower house Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday began a marathon debate on President Javier Milei's mega-bill to reform the economy, politics and even some aspects of private life.
Milei's so-called 'omnibus' bill initially contained 664 articles, but has lost almost half that figure in tough negotiations with the opposition, which largely outnumbers his party in Congress.
"We have reached an agreement" for the bill to be approved "in general," said ruling party ally José Luis Espert before the session started.
Milei's party, La Libertad Avanza, has only 38 of the 257 seats in the lower house of Congress.
The legislature debated for around 12 hours before adjourning until Thursday at noon local time.
Milei's massive reform package touches on all areas of public and private life, from privatisations to cultural issues, the penal code, and divorce, to the status of football clubs.
Milei notably was forced to remove a set of tax reforms he had hoped would help his government cut spending by five percent, and a highly controversial modification of how pensions are calculated.
In a vote of confidence behind Milei's reforms, the IMF on Wednesday approved the disbursement of around US$4.7 billion to Argentina.
That brings to around US$40.6 billion the amount sent to the country as part of a US$44.5-billion aid programme.
IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva in a statement praised the government's "bold actions to restore macroeconomic stability and... address long-standing impediments to growth."
The move came a day after the International Monetary Fund slashed its forecast for Argentina's growth prospects, predicting a contraction of 2.8 percent in the economy.
Privatisations, special powers
Thousands of protesters rallied Wednesday outside the legislature to express their unhappiness with the reform bill.
Towards the end of the day, some protesters clashed with the police, who cleared the roads near Congress and used tear gas.
After debate ended for the day, some protesters remained picketing on street corners.
Marisol Sotelo, a 46-year-old teacher, told AFP that she was worried about "privatisation and the sale of the country" if the law was approved.
Moderate opposition lawmakers have warned they will seek further changes to the bill, in particular on the touchy issue of the delegation of special powers to the executive in an economic emergency, and on the scope and extent of privatisations.
Plans to privatise state-owned oil giant YPF have already been scrapped, but another 40 companies are still on the list.
UCR lawmaker Martîn Tetaz estimated that "a third of the project will have difficulty being approved," and his group plans to ask for modifications.
Lawmakers are preparing for a marathon session, with an initial 35 hours of debate planned over several days, and 200 speeches.
They will have to vote on each article and once approved, the bill will head to the Senate. If further adjustments are made it will have to pass back through the Chamber of Deputies.
–TIMES/AFP
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