In Argentina, the deregulatory reforms of ultraliberal President Javier Milei reached a new stage on Tuesday February 6 in Parliament, where deputies approved the principle of "delegated powers" to the executive for one year, in the name of "economic emergency ".

The Chamber of Deputies has begun the thorny examination, at times article by article, of the ambitious law known as "Omnibus", initially 660 provisions targeting the economy, commerce, culture, criminal law, culture... .Project over the weeks narrowed down to around 300 articles.

The deputies first approved on Tuesday the first article, a founding principle establishing “the urgency in economic, financial, security, tariff, energy and administrative matters” of the country.

Then, after hours of heated debate, they validated, by 134 votes to 119, the "delegation of powers" to the executive for a renewable year, which allows it to legislate by decrees, subject to regular information and a posteriori control of the Parliament.

A step forward but not a guarantee

The vote is a step forward for the executive, which has had to make many compromises on the text to form ad hoc alliances, as Milei's party, La Libertad Avanza (LLA), is in the minority in the Lower House (third force with 38 seats out of 257). Thus, he had to abandon a whole section of tax reforms from the initial text.

But Tuesday's vote in no way guarantees that the bill will pass, in the coming weeks, the pitfall of the Senate, where Milei's party is in an even more precarious position (7 senators out of 72).

In the name of the economic "emergency", the law intends to "limit any state intervention that is not necessary for the exercise of the rights" of Argentines. And aims for "freedom of markets driving the spontaneous interaction of supply and demand as a mode of (...) reactivation of the economy".

“Each delegated faculty (to the executive) is a micro-coup d’état!” launched radical left MP Christian Castillo, during the debate on “delegated powers”. “We fear a weak democracy, which concentrates extortion possibilities on a single person (...) and ends up leaving us all defenseless,” argued Paula Oliveto, a moderate opposition MP (centrist), whose bloc had nevertheless voted on Friday the "general" principle of the law.

The pro-Milei deputies argued that "delegated faculties" are not exceptional, and have already been voted on in the recent past, including under the Peronist (center-left) executives of Nestor then Cristina Kirchner, and by Alberto Fernandez.

The deputies continued on Tuesday evening the detailed examination of the "Omnibus Law", with highly contentious points where the moderate opposition intends to demand modifications, such as privatizations (between 30 and 40 companies targeted), or the distribution of resources State/provinces.

With AFP

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