Milei to outline reform push in Congress speech

President Javier Milei will open this year’s ordinary sessions of Congress with a primetime televised speech tomorrow, during which he will herald the “most reformist year” in Argentina’s history.

The speech, scheduled for 9pm, will be delivered from the National Congress building before the Legislative Assembly, with lawmakers from both chambers represented. Several top government officials, advisors and ambassadors are also set to attend.

President Milei confirmed the opening on the new congressional year will take place this Sunday via Decree 107/2026 published in Official Gazette.

The occasion will be centred on his state-of-the-nation address, which is also expected to announce upcoming government bills to be submitted for parliamentary approval.

No surprises

The speech, which is not expected to last much more than half an hour, will be transmitted by the ‘Cadena Nacional’ nationwide broadcast system.

Unlike at some other times in his Presidency, Milei has no intention of offering any surprises in his speech, government sources said. Like its two predecessors, tomorrow’s state-of- the-nation speech will reportedly concentrate on going over his administration’s reforms thus far, rather than looking ahead, they added.

High on the list of achievements will be the ‘Ley de Bases’ mega-reform package of 2024, the RIGI (Régimen de Incentivo a las Grandes Inversiones) major investment incentive scheme and the recently approved Labour Modernisation Law.

In more general terms, the so-called “cultural battle” will also form part of the menu.

According to government sources, Milei will use this inaugural session to reveal parts of his legislative agenda and seek consensus without raising the tone of his voice.

Wishlist

La Libertad Avanza has at least 40 important bills lined up for approval this year, which will be “the year with the most reforms in history,” government sources anticipated. On the wishlist is tax reform and a new university financing bill. Those bills which could not be debated in extraordinary sessions for lack of time or allies, are set to be discussed in the first half of the year.

Milei’s government also harbours illusions of a bill to “bring order” to non-governmental organisations since the Casa Rosada believes its outdated norms to require “modernisation.” Critics of the head of state will watch that closely, fearing that the government wants to clamp down on their activities.

The ruling party is also working on electoral reform. Significant changes to the current system could be announced by President Milei in tomorrow’s state-of-the-nation speech.

One top source said the idea is to advance in the elimination of the PASO (Primarias, Abiertas, Simultáneas y Obligatorias) primaries with a new voting logic. While this would involve some internal debate to analyse the advantages and disadvantages, the preliminary stance points to their entire elimination.

A draft bill overseen by presidential advisor Santiago Caputo also includes the idea of implementing the single paper ballot in all 23 provinces and the City of Buenos Aires.

Although each provincial government possesses autonomy to define the mode of local elections, La Libertad Avanza plans to drive a debate in every territory to highlight the benefits of the single paper ballot system.

Top party sources reveal that the idea is “to simplify” and “unify” the process, to avoid people having to go to the polls or queue up to vote more than once.

Party rules

Another key objective is to amend the régime of political parties, which will oblige the revision of each party’s system of financing with the aim of a “more efficient” distribution of the funds assigned to bank campaign activities.

Contemplated in the Reform for Electoral Reinforcement, which was frustrated in its previous Congress appearance, are higher ceilings for private contributions, the elimination of electoral advertising in the media and the public financing of campaigns, as well as a reduction of the opinion polls between eight and three days before any election and the creation of an attorney-general before the National Electoral Court.

These reforms are the result of brainstorming by a designated team and the findings could be announced tomorrow.

– TIMES/NA