Marathon at the Argentine Congress to discuss the law on the demolition of the State of Milei

On Wednesday, Congress began discussing the Argentine refoundation proposed by Javier Milei. It was a long day in the Chamber of Deputies, where deputies debated all day in a session that will likely extend beyond Friday, and a tense one on the streets of Buenos Aires, where federal police cracked down and arrested some of the thousands of protesters gathered in the square in front of the Congress. Around midnight, after nearly 12 hours of debate, a recess was called and the session resumed on Thursday.

The session began after 10 am with the presence of 137 deputies, just over half of those who make up the lower house of the Argentine Congress. The ruling party needed at least 129 of the 257 MPs to show up for the debate to allow it to take place. The quorum was guaranteed with the 38 seats of the governing party, with the 37 of the PRO of the former conservative president Mauricio Macri, the 34 of the center-right Unione Civica Radicale (UCR), and a large block of federal and other forces minority groups, as well as some deputies from the Peronist alliance Unión por la Patria and the left, who with their presence encouraged the debate despite opposing the project.

The debate began with the swearing-in of two new deputies. The ruling party’s Mónica Ferreyra occupied the ruling party seat vacated by Milei’s chancellor, Diana Mondino, and dedicated her inauguration to “children who grow in the womb.” On the other hand, the Peronist Ernesto Nader Ali did it out of “fidelity” to his “ideological doctrine”. The formal debate had not yet begun, but the tension was assured. The Argentine deputies then started a debate that will last at least 40 hours, discussing point by point the almost 400 articles of the megalaw with which Milei wants to arrogate special legislative powers, privatize state enterprises and deregulate the Argentine economy.

The governing party is guaranteed 38 votes, while the pro party is guaranteed 37. It will have to convince some deputies from the UCR or the federal forces, who guaranteed a quorum but did not vote a blank check.

As soon as the debate began, the leader of the deputies of the Union por la Patria, Germán Martínez, attempted to bring the dossier back to the commission, but the proposal was rejected with 149 votes against. Another deputy summarized the Peronist coalition’s position: “There are no redeemable things. The content is contrary to the interests of Argentines.” The left joined in the criticism. “I hope that in the days that this session lasts, there will be many and many who will take to the streets,” asked congresswoman and former presidential candidate Myriam Bregman. “The only language that governments understand is that of mobilization, that is, the only tool that guarantees not to blow everything up”.

Congress had been cordoned off early in the morning and federal security forces stood guard around the building in anticipation of demonstrations in the streets. Around five in the afternoon, when some people summoned mainly by left-wing organizations demonstrated in the square in front of the Congress, the police deployment intensified. Security Minister Patricia Bullrich activated the new government’s protocol to crack down on road closures, and the federal police beat protesters, fired tear gas and deployed forces in trucks with water cannons and officers in motorcycles that pushed the demonstrators towards the sidewalks. The demonstrators directly contested the protocol, which they consider illegal because it limits the right to protest and prohibits blocking the streets, demonstrating with their faces covered or bringing children to marches.

Those present assured that at that moment the Gendarmerie agents, a militarized body, were deployed, two trucks appeared with fire hydrants that had never been lit and pepper spray was fired. “There are detainees, there are wounded, I myself am wounded. They dragged me and scratched me. And no one attacked any police officers,” said left-wing leader Eduardo Bellibini, who blamed the Security Minister for the incidents. “We will continue here. The law will make this an everyday thing,” he indicated.

While Bellibini spoke about the road being blocked, agents from the various security forces stopped some demonstrators on the sidewalks and dispersed them in the square in front of the Congress. “This deployment is not necessary,” said one of the protesters, Azul Paredes, 23, active in the Socialist Workers Movement. “If there is this deployment to repress a peaceful demonstration, it is because the law does not support either the law or the DNU. The government is trying to prove something, it is a show for the voters of La Libertad Avanza and for those who do not want the streets to be closed,” she said surrounded by the flags of left-wing movements.

The debate takes place in extraordinary sessions called by the Government during the summer break. The Executive intended to give explicit treatment to the project, which in its original version had more than 600 articles, but had to extend the deadline for extraordinary sessions until February 15th. Lawmakers discussed the initiative in specialized committees for a month, and after negotiations, the project lost almost 200 articles. The ruling party acknowledged the “mistakes” in the writing and agreed to give in on some points.

Milei no longer asks for up to four years of special powers that allow him to rule by decree, now he asks for just two. He also accepted the “mistakes” in the drafting of the Security chapter, in which an article proposed to control public meetings of more than three people, and eliminated the YPF oil company from the list of 41 state companies that he intends to privatize. . Now 37 remain, while three others, such as Banco Nación, the electricity production company Nucleoeléctrica and the satellite telecommunications company ARSAT, are only open to partial capitalization. He nor he will try to reform the electoral system.

Last Wednesday, at the beginning of the session, the articles removed from the law were read aloud: “13, 31, 71, 72, 81…”. The law that survives will be known after one of the longest debates in the history of the Argentine Congress.

Sign up here at news bulletin from EL PAÍS América and receive all the key information on current events in the region.