In the midst of a tense political climate and with Congress armored, the Chamber of Deputies debates in a special session the so-called Omnibus Law, which arrived in Congress with more than 600 articles and that after days of pruning could remain at a little more than 300 to give President
Javier Mile
i the tools to govern, including delegated powers in a half-dozen emergencies.
The negotiations between the libertarians and the dialogue blocs continued this Wednesday afternoon with the intention of unlocking key issues for both the Government and the governors.
The ruling party
is pressing
for the Executive to have a free hand in the privatization process of some 40 state companies, something resisted by the entire opposition, while the dialogueists are making their last attempts to make the PAIS tax
co-shareable
.
But all this occurs in a context of uncertainty and lack of definition of a session that began with a quorum of 137 deputies made up of the representatives of La Libertad Avanza, Hacemos Coalión Federal, UCR and the PRO.
But Kirchnerism, which did not provide a quorum, opened fire by accusing - via a matter of privilege - the president of the Chamber,
Martín Menem
, of preventing the formation of the bicameral commission for Legislative Procedure, the one in charge of defining the DNU that the President signed. last month and that it is in force, beyond some judicial questioning of certain articles.
As the session began to warm up, the first gestures and shouts of the libertarians who were invited began to be felt from the boxes.
Although the situation got out of control when one of the guests insulted the representative
Myriam Bregman
, which forced the intervention of all the blocks asking that he be evicted due to his offensive position from the second floor of the venue.
It was later learned that the protagonist of the scandal was identified as
Tomás Agote
, a businessman who was evicted by security.
Deputies Juan Manuel López and Maximiliano Ferraro.
Photo: Juano Tesone.
The debate was able to be channeled and then the reading of the articles that will be eliminated from the majority opinion signed by the plenary of commissions, which was endorsed by La Libertad Avanza and the dialogue blocs, was carried out, although these deputies signed in dissent and others presented their own offices marking the differences with the Government's proposal.
More changes
The modifications to the libertarians' office were in charge of the parliamentary secretary of the Chamber,
Tomás Figueroa
, something rarely seen, since it is generally the reporting member who presents the proposal.
Among the changes, the article linked to the PAIS tax was eliminated, which according to the law will be in force until December 22, 2024. The Government's intention was for 100% to be allocated to the ANSeS/PAMI.
But that was modified and the proportion of 70% for ANSeS / PAMI and 30% for social housing is maintained.
However, the opposition maintains its intention to impose the governors' request for the tax to be shared and, therefore, while the session was taking place, negotiations continued in search of an agreement, as confirmed to this newspaper by the radical
Danya Tavela.
The measure was also promoted by the deputies of Córdoba who are part of the Federal Coalition.
Another point in which there would be progress and that reduced the possible legislative success of the Government has to do with privatizations.
This chapter was still the focus of discussion in the offices.
But a source from the ruling party confided that the Executive was open to reducing the list of companies subject to privatization to around 30 or 25, leaving YPF off the payroll as had already been announced, while Banco Nación, ARSAT and Nucleoeléctrica would remain in one. "special category" with a mixed administration.
In addition, Milei would agree to the request of both the Federal Coalition and the UCR and, consequently,
will send each privatization project to Congress
.
Thus, the President would ensure authorization to move forward with the privatizations of state companies.
But all this must be endorsed on the premises
Another of the articles that are eliminated from the project has to do with the powers to modify the cold zone trust funds for residential gas users.
Likewise, the articles that make up the chapters referring to the Fisheries Law
and internal taxes
were withdrawn .
Deputy Carlos Heller.
Among the modifications, the repeal of the Sustainability Guarantee Fund (FGS) was also eliminated but the debt is consolidated.
While
the environment chapter that affected native forests is eliminated
Article 303 was also removed, leaving out the maximum fines as a sanction for organizers of social demonstrations, and the definition of demonstration as
"the intentional and temporary congregation of THIRTY (30) or more people in a public space" was lifted.
As had been announced, the ruling party backed down with the articles linked to the tax regime and export rights, which was one of the demands of the dialogue blocs, as well as the elimination of retirement mobility.
In the next few hours, a definition of the final text of the law is expected to reach with greater clarity the individual vote on each article.
During the debate,
José Luis Espert
said that "the project is controversial but only for those who want to take care of their privileges," but he also defended the extraordinary powers requested by Milei.
"Powers are delegated to the Executive Branch in a clear and precise manner to face in an agile and effective manner the serious crisis that the present Milei Government inherited," said the economist, who recalled that
Alberto Fernández
had them "with a situation less pressing".
For his part, libertarian
Gabriel Bornoroni
described the Omnibus Law as "a shock of freedom for Argentines who voted and are asking for this bill to be approved."
While
Carlos Heller
(UxP) said that "this cannot be approved in any way."
And he mentioned that removing YPF from the list of companies subject to privatization "is a burden
. "
"They didn't get anything, they are moving forward with the privatization of 40 companies."
The debate continued this Wednesday afternoon and would extend at least until this Thursday.
What was pending definition was whether the session went to an intermission after the general vote or whether it continued until the end.