Jasmine Bullorini
03/01/2020 - 17:32
- Clarín.com
- Politics
Without euphoria on the part of the ruling party or manifestations of discontent since the opposition, the first opening of Alberto Fernández's sessions in Congress was marked by sobriety.
A minute before 12 - the schedule scheduled for his speech - Fernández smiled into the Chamber of Deputies, where the legislators of the Front of All received him to the shout of "President Alberto. That was the only singing moment of the day.
In the boxes there was no militancy, flags or posters and only a shout was heard, from the highest tray, asking for the trans labor quota law.
Inside the premises there were plenty of benches : at least a dozen were empty. A large part were those occupied by the legislators of the Civic Coalition who, after the scandal of the last session due to the presence of the ambassador designated for Brazil, Daniel Scioli, decided not to attend the legislative assembly. Only the president of the Coalition block, Maximiliano Ferraro, and his vice, Juan López, were present.
"Due to the outrage of the PJ and the breach in the last session to the public trust we have decided not to attend the assembly to demand the president to respect the institutions," Marcela Campagnoli wrote on the networks, although later deleted the tweet.
Meanwhile Scioli - who said he would resign on March 3 - arrived early to occupy the bank. "I am accompanying the President," he tweeted.
The slogan for the legalization of abortion was the issue that transcended benches. The deputy from Salta by the Front of All Verónica Caliva arrived with a pile of green scarves to distribute among her colleagues. The secretary of the block, Cristina Alvarez Rodríguez wore a suggestive green blazer and Senator Inés Pilatti Vergara carried a green fan with the slogan of the campaign.
In the joint of Together for the Change, a group of legislators, among them the Buenos Aires radicals Emiliano Yacobitti and Carla Carrizo, also exposed a green handkerchief on their bench.
The only celestial handkerchief that was seen was that of the evangelist legislator of Together for Change Dina Rezinovsky, a "pro-life" militant.
The moment Fernandez announced that he would send a project to legalize abortion within 10 days was the most thunderous. Half of the legislators - from different parties - stopped from their seats to applaud and an echo of the street celebrations crossed the walls of Congress.
The rest of the speech - which lasted for an hour and twenty - was lived in silence, without interruptions and with sporadic applause.
The opposition seriously listened to criticisms of the "indebtedness" of Mauricio Macri's management and the inheritance of "scorched earth." The block chiefs whispered among themselves, while the head of the Together for Change bench took note, but made no gestures or comments . PRO block chief Cristian Ritondo - a former Buenos Aires security minister - barely shook his head and turned his eyes away when Fernandez said that the fight against drugs had been "more rhetorical than effective."
In turn, they applauded the announcements of judicial reform , the modification of the Intelligence Law and the post-mortem rise of the 44 victims of Ara San Juan.
When the act ended, the lack of "an economic course" was the main criticism that JxC said . "The president did not talk about the economic plan. Today Argentina seems to be on pause on that issue. We have no budget and did not say when it will send," said Ritondo.
“It caught my attention that I spoke little about the world. Where does Argentina stand, where does it go and in what way? He spoke of the judicial reform and did not say a word that judges should continue investigating the acts of corruption. He spoke of espionage but it would have been good to say that they were also wrong having César Milani investigating everyone, ”said Negri and concluded:“ The president is there, between good intentions and the need to resolve the power dispute in the Front de Todos, which is almost like a bifronte government ”
Vice President Cristina Kirchner had little prominence . He listened seriously and quietly. At times he fanned himself, drank water and adjusted his hair. As soon as the speech was over, he hugged Fernandez, smiled for the photo and left the premises, while Alberto remained greeting the governors and former President Carlos Menem.
The act was brief. The first deputy to arrive was the former governor of Tierra del Fuego Rosana Bertone, and the president of Deputies, Sergio Massa, was in charge of raising the flag.
