This Tuesday, May 7, in the afternoon, the Senate began the treatment of the Base Lawafter he obtained the half sanction in Deputies. The ruling party seeks to obtain an opinion on Thursday, May 9, so that the project can be voted on next week. The parliamentary day began with a series of accusations and harsh exchanges between libertarian officials and the opposition, beginning with the denunciation of the senators of Unión por la Patria, who They raised the nullity of the project, alleging that it was a different text than the one approved in the lower house. Within the framework of a tense session, the chapter most questioned by all opposition blocs was the one dedicated to the Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI).
From 2 p.m. in the Blue Room of the National Congress, the plenary session of commissions for the so-called omnibus law began and also the tax package.
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After the presentations of Guillermo FrancosJosé Rolandi and María Ibarzabal Murphy, one of the strongest voices when it comes to responding from the ruling party, the president of the General Legislation commission, Bartolomé Abdala, opened the round of questions, an action that took up most of the meeting and that lasted until almost 7:30 p.m.
With the RIGI, La Libertad Avanza intends to enable a benefits program for investments greater than 200 million dollars for accelerate investment decision making providing a framework of legal security. This is one of the initiatives that generated the most resistance among opposition senators.
It should be noted that La Libertad Avanza has only 7 legislators in the upper house: although the ruling party has the support of the PRO, In radicalism there is no homogeneous position and one of the first to express it was Martín Lousteau.
Treatment of the Bases Law in the Senate. Photos: Courtesy of Press Chamber of Senators
The radical was one of the most rigorous when it came to putting the magnifying glass on the RIGI pointing out technical tariff issues.
Guadalupe Tagliaferri (CABA), from the PRO, and the Kirchnerist Fernández Sagasti, perhaps, the most pyrotechnic against the regime that had the approval of Deputies, agreed to his questioning. The Mendoza woman hinted that the chapter would have “come out of a dark office” in the city of Buenos Aires. Along these lines, he stated that whoever wrote it does not know about “federalism.”
Another axis that led to Di Tullio’s intervention, but that does not involve the RIGI, was the labour reform. In the Frente del Todos block in the Senate and at the same time that the plenary meeting was taking place, a handful of legislators received Héctor Daer and Carlos Acuñatriumvirs of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), which next Thursday will hold its second national strike against the Executive Branch.
Throughout his speech, Di Tullio, with a direct line to former president Cristina Kirchner, announced that he will request by means of a note the presence before the plenary of commissions of the workers’ confederations of Argentina, the CGT and the two CTA (Autonomous and of Workers), and also of the International Labor Organization (ILO).
Although it was not specified when, at the end of the meeting, Daer said it could be next week. This puts the libertarian administration on the ropes and would alter the calendar drawn up by the ruling party who, excited by the push of Deputies and pressed by the May Pact, aspired to obtain the ruling this Thursday.
The consulting firms that oversee the Central Bank projected an inflation of 7.5% for May
UxP’s claim for the different text
The UxP block of Deputies denounced, through its block leader German Martinezwhat The text that entered the upper house is different from the one voted on a week ago.
Several K senators pointed strongly against the ruling party, under the watchful eye of the Minister of the Interior, Guillermo Francos, which was expected to begin with the first round of presentation in defense of the Bases law and the fiscal package. Among the opposition provincial representatives who expressed themselves were Silvia Sapag (Neuquén) who described the text as “a piece of paper”. Juliana Di Tullio (Buenos Aires) did the same, stating that “it’s trick”, while Anabel Fernández Sagasti (Mendoza) labeled it as “a crime“.
At the intersection of these two dialogue opponents emerged. One of them was Senator Juan Carlos Romero (Salta), from Cambio Federal, and Maximiliano Abad (Buenos Aires), from the Unión Cívica Radical (UCR). Romero asked that the plenary to listen to the presentations of those sent by the Executive Branch. For his part, Abad asked himself: “I don’t understand what they are referring to. What solution do you propose?”.
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Francos is seeking to approve the law before the May Pact
On the other hand, the government’s objective is to reach the so-called “May Pact” to be signed with governors in Córdoba on the 25th of this month, with the law already sanctioned in Parliament. However, for that to happen it would have to be approved without any modification, since if so, it would have to return to Deputies.
In this framework, the deputy chief of staff spoke, Jose Rolandiand the Secretary of Strategic Planning, Mary Ibarzabal Murphy. Both Rolandi and Irbazabal will undergo another plenary session of commissions tomorrow, Tuesday, in which they must delve even deeper into the details and concerns brought by the senators. However, both national officials broadly explained the nodal points of both projects.
But the first to intervene in the plenary session of the General Legislation, Budget and Treasury and Constitutional Affairs commissions was the Minister of the Interior, Guillermo Francoswho gave a brief introduction to the project and explained that “if one goes through the 40 years of democratic history, each new government had to solve inherited problems and since (Raúl) Alfonsin“There has always been a fundamentally economic crisis.”
Along these lines, he recalled that “Alfonsín had to advance the handover of power due to hyperinflation and the governments that succeeded him also had inflation.” Furthermore, he stated that “President (Javier) Milei encountered the worst crisis in the history of democracy.”
He listed, in that sense, that the management that began on December 10, 2023 found “the Central Bank (BCRA) without a single dollar, with uncontrolled inflation and the previous government resolved it with monetary issuance.”
In contrast to those exposed by Francos, the head of the Unión por la Patria interblock, José Mayans, He came out to say that “we do not agree at all with the minister’s presentation.” “We have to give data and last year’s inflation averaged 8.7%, but his government has already had more than 90%,” he said.
In this way, the man from Formosa continued: “He devalued the currency by 120%. So bring me data, because I give you data and do not say things that are not true because they base a law on data that is false.”
And he added: “The basic basket is almost at 900,000 pesos and pensions increased little.” “They released prices and that is why Argentine salaries are stagnant, co-participation has fallen by 30%, they ended the FONID, public investment, more than 100,000 jobs lost and the health budget.”
Guilermo Francos’ response did not take long to arrive: “If you want to chicane, chicane all you want, but you have wrong numbers.” Likewise, he said that “December inflation was 1.5% daily,” and told Mayans that “you did the same (chicanear) when DNU 70/2023 was discussed.”
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JD/ca