Debate on the omnibus ‘Ley de Bases’ bill has commenced in Congress although only 386 of the initial 664 articles made it to the House floor.
The long list of removed items was the result of negotiations with moderate deputies in the PRO, UCR Radical, Hacemos Coalición Federal and Innovación caucuses.
Yet many differences persist between the government and allied caucuses so that the initiative is expected to obtain overall approval in the first reading but to suffer several amendments in clause-by-clause voting.
Some lawmakers complained Wednesday that the debate was opened without the final text of the bill being available to deputies, a development they decried as amateurism.
Key withdrawals
Some of the items considered key issues by the government but left out of the bill’s final version are:
– Changing the mechanism for updating pensions. Economy Minister Luis Caputo announced the withdrawal of this issue, along with the entire fiscal and economic packages in a press conference. The government had proposed updating pensions according to the cost-of-living index as from April but the opposition argued that this implied a major loss of purchasing-power for pensioners, requesting that the updating be backdated to January.
– Increased export duties. Another issue cut since several governors questioned the impact of increased export duties on productive sectors.
– Transferring the assets of the FGS (Fondo de Garantía de Sustentabilidad) pension fund to the Treasury. Also removed from the original text as one of the points most questioned by the opposition, not because they opposed the measure but because they requested compensation for money owed to the provinces by the Fund as well as a guarantee of cash flows permitting the 13 provincial pension funds not transferred to ANSES social security administration to meet their annual compensation.
– Reforms of the electoral system. All the transformations linked to this issue were left out of the debate, mainly those referring to the financing of political parties and electoral campaigns (allowing private donors more scope), as well as the elimination of the PASO primaries.
Still up for reform
President Milei’s government refused to give ground on other key issues, keeping them installed for congressional debate:
– Privatisation of 37 public companies. One of the issues expected to trigger the most tension during the debate, even after the government agreed to withdraw state energy firm YPF from the list, as well as a partial sale of ARSAT satellites, Nucleoeléctrica and Banco Nación.
– Law and order. A discussion including several issues causing disagreements such as the concept of "demonstration" as a right and changes in the law of legitimate self-defence.
– Emergency areas allowing Javier Milei special powers. Consensus has been reached that the emergency period is to last one year which Congress may extend for a further year but the number of such areas, which has already been reduced from 11 to six, is still subject to debate.
– Reforms of environmental policy. Changes linked, among other things, to the financing of forestry legislation and amendments to the law protecting glaciers.
– TIMES/NA
Comments