Country, for sale: Green light in deputy for omnibus law and general approval of fiscal package | The ruling party is headed for its first legislative victory in a marathon session

The second time is the charm and La Libertad Avanza, at the end of this edition, was preparing to approve – once again – its omnibus law, which includes the privatization of eleven public companies, the abolition of the pension moratorium, an investment regime for Javier Huge tax benefits and extraordinary powers for Miley. With the accompaniment of radicalism, PRO, we form the federal alliance and many provincial parties, The ruling party was close to taking its revenge And on Tuesday morning Miley’s first project was approved after becoming President. However, the ghost of the vote in particular returned to haunt the ruling party, which observed that there were several chapters – such as the restoration of profits in the fiscal package or the reform of the state in the omnibus law – which were they lacked support And they may cause some headaches for the ruling party.

D-Day began in a much more organized atmosphere than the first round in February, but the delegates were in a hurry. nervous. Last night Elisa Cariou announced that the Civic Coalition would secede from the group we form a federal coalitionBalancing fundamentalism and supporters as well as loyalists On which official victory depended. However, he promised to first follow the law as usual and leave confirmation of the fracture until Tuesday. “This is the best law we knew how to achieve. And they beat us because they were tired.”He sighed tiredly in protest of the conversation.

The session began just after noon with a comfortable quorum of 135 votes, with all parties except Union pour la Patria and FIT participating. Although there was almost no doubt that the ruling party would receive more than 140 votes for general approval of the law, delegates had been preparing for a long time. More than 150 speakers had signed up and it was anticipated that the general vote would only come between 6 and 8 am, while the special vote – the most important – would take place only after noon. There would be no recess or intermediate rooms and there were representatives, like Damien Arabia (PRO), who brought blankets and pillows to spend the night.

Meanwhile, some surprising absences caught attention: marcella pagano (LLA), who was recently hospitalized due to pressure to resign as the Chairman of the Impeachment Commission, was not seen in the Congress. Meanwhile, in the boxes, he finds two swords of Karina Miley (responsible for the internal affair that led to the removal of Oscar Zago from the presidency of the ruling faction): Sebastian Parejaits owner in Buenos Aires Province, and lule menemUnder Secretary for Institutional Management in the Secretariat directed by Karina.

A few meters away was the Vice Chief of Staff, José Rolandi, who would act as the authorized voice of the national government in Congress: he, together with José Luis Espart and Silvia Lospanato, managed the porting of each article and the collaboration of allies. Communicated with. Swords was when I noticed that one chapter was floundering. “Rolandi called me worried” would be a recurring phrase during the day (see separate). Later the interior minister will pass, Guillermo FrancosTo keep an eye on the situation, but the ruling party was silent: Except for RIGI, profits and state reforms, which lacked guarantees, the omnibus law and the fiscal package were in good health.

first vote

The ruling party succeeded in testing its majority just minutes after the session began., when it came to approving the parliamentary work plan it was assumed that the vote would take place exclusively by chapters. Not for articles. “We had a bad start,” UXP head Germán Martínez rebuked Martin Menem, saying he wanted to avoid a domino fall of articles that had led to a re-debate in the committee on legislation in February. However, tempers ran high and what started as a technical discussion ended in shouting matches and insults.

“I understand that they want to speed up the process, but at the sole request of a deputy, the rules allow to debate it article by article,” Carolina Gaillard (UXP) was saying, while Martínez left to negotiate. Tried, a few benches away from it Christian Ritondo Regarding the possibility of a motion that the vote be by articles. “He knows I’m right,” Martínez said sarcastically, pointing at the Arab, who was laughing. At one point, the first scream was heard: “Ridiculous! Give him a Rivotril, he’s out.” It was Karina Banfi who was insulting Gaillard, who was interrupting Rodrigo de Laredo’s speech. “You are ridiculous for not providing quorum for the University Commission.”, Gaillard replied. Tension was rising, Menem could not stop it and the chaos did not subside until he ordered a nominal vote on the action plan.

The final result was 140 votes in favor and 109 against: the first snapshot of the majority that Xavier Miley would normally have to approve his legislation. They came together with the PRO, almost all of the HCF – socialists, lilitos and pichetistas included –, the entire UCR – except the hardest Mannes line – and the provincial forces that make up the Federal Innovation.

Discussion

“It’s a cultural battle to understand how the state works. The state is the main cause of debt, it’s the main cause of the tax pressure that falls on all Argentines,” began Santiago Santuario, revealing on behalf of the LLA. However, a very critical speech against Kirchnerism, Omitting the fact that it was Miley, who said he would “cut his own hand off” before raising taxes, who proposed reinstating the fourth tier of profits For all those who earn more than 1.8 million pesos.

The person who would be in charge of referencing that contradiction would be José Luis Espart, who, curiously, defined a few years ago that collecting benefits was “unconstitutional”. On this occasion, as the second reporting member, he assured: “Sergio Massa irresponsibly broke the income tax from the most complete electoral democracy, removing from this tax 960 thousand taxpayers. He took us to the ninth underground and we Let’s take it from there and rebuild”.

“It is absolutely wrong that this decision is better than the previous decision,” said Germán Martínez, meanwhile, who joined the list: “Workers who didn’t get benefits paid are going to get paid again, “The rates the highest class of taxpayers pay for personal assets are going to be small, they are going to carry out money laundering that is rolling out the red carpet for the money produced by criminal economies in Argentina.” “I think they have chosen the path of cruelty, that is, burying the targeted areas in debris.”For her part, added Cecilia Moro (UXP), who accused the ruling party of wanting to “change the tax system to make it pro-rich”, referring to the decline in personal assets.

Miriam Bregman (FIT), meanwhile, would point out strongly against ending the pension moratorium: “They practically dismantled the retirement system. “Nine out of ten women will not be able to retire, and neither will seven out of ten men,” he questioned.

“We’re not going to give in to provocations, or engage in the president’s mess of trying to depress debate. We should not play into his hands. Because the president fears that after this legislation is passed It will be noted that it is not that he has no team, no expertise, and there will be no more excuse to govern,” said Juan Manuel López (CC), who would normally vote in favor. Upheld its decision but reserved the right to vote against several articles, such as the powers representative.

Meanwhile, the PRO will be the flamboyant protector of the two big projects of the ruling party and will defend them as if they were his own. “This law would not be necessary if it were not for reversing the tragedy generated by the Kirchnerist story,” said Silvia Lospanato, a former pigeon turned dovecote, who defended labor reform that eliminates penalties for unregistered work and testing. Extends the period to six months: “A package of rules that is a first step in labor modernization to deal with the testing industry.”

Martin Tetaz (UCR), a few hours later, will take the opportunity to propose amendments to the labor reform: this includes abolishing mandatory solidarity dues for unions. “The right of workers to choose freely must be respected,” the Evolution deputy demanded. Although Labor reform was defended by the entire faction, at the end of this edition the UCR was the bench that faced the most internal unrest. With 34 votes of its own, it was anticipated that most articles would vote in a divided manner.

Tobacco tax: opposition’s revenge

The dialogue opposition of the UCR and HCF was saving one final blow: the inclusion of tax reform specifically on tobacco production in the vote. The opposition intends to eliminate the minimum internal tax and thus bring all taxes down to a flat rate of 73 percent. The measure aims to force Tabacalera Sarandí, which has been benefiting from judicial injunctions for years, to pay the same taxes as its competitors. No one in LLA wants to be around defending the lobby of a particular company, so the opposition is forcing them to remain absent. The opposition may succeed in linking tax reform, if the UXP and PRO do the same. And if they are not successful, they will be able to expose those who voted against. Win-win.