The
frenetic
negotiations between the Government and the dialogue opposition continued this Thursday night open in the Chamber of Deputies in an attempt to unblock the general approval of the Omnibus Law promoted by Javier Milei.
A month and a half after the proposal was presented, the President has not only seen the fiscal chapter, key to his program, fall, but he will also see
extraordinary powers cut as emergencies are reduced
and could even see his attempt to advance fail. in a deep privatization process, another of the points of its policy to advance the
deregulation
of the economy.
The exhausting efforts to seek a point of balance and understanding between the libertarians and the blocks of the UCR and We Make the Federal Coalition almost came to a
critical point
this Thursday that led the opposition representatives to deliver
a list with the necessary modifications
so that the articles are drafted by a representative of the ruling party.
But this clashes head on with the concept that the project comes from the Government and that the Executive should be in charge.
The situation
forced
the executive secretary of the Government of the Chief of Staff,
José Rolandi,
and the advisor
Maximiliano Fariña
, to return to Congress to settle in
Martín Menem
's office to advance in the drafting and negotiations.
They were joined in the afternoon by the Secretary General of the Presidency,
Karina Milei
.
There were meetings with the presidents of the blocks to try to unravel the controversy over the extraordinary powers, the privatizations and the repeated request of the governors to make the PAIS tax shareable, something that Milei resists.
Carlos Gutiérrez
from Cordoba
carried the message from
Martín Llaryora,
who was about to kick the board due to the lack of response from the Government.
The discussion could only be unblocked through contact between the President and the governors, they insisted in the halls of Congress.
But Milei's intransigence in negotiating with the provinces
does not jeopardize the possibility of approving the law in general,
but he would leave him with a law of about 300 articles lacking political and even economic content.
A deputy even told
Clarín
that as the proposal stands,
there are only 28 fundamental articles
in the opinion that has not yet been completed.
Miguel Angel Pichetto and Sergio Palazzo during the session in Deputies.
Photo: Federico López Claro.
Article 3 of Chapter II, linked to the declaration of public emergency and bases of legislative delegations, is undoubtedly the
Achilles heel
of the negotiation between the government of Javier Milei and the opposition willing to give him the votes for the approval of the Omnibus Law.
To start, the ruling party had to reduce emergencies from 11 to 9 when the megaproject was discussed within the plenary of commissions.
This is how the economic, financial, fiscal, pension, security, health, tariff, energy and administrative emergency remained.
All until December 31, 2024, with the possibility of extending it for 12 months.
In this complex negotiation of the Omnibus Law, the Government had to give in on emergencies and began the week with 6 and by the middle of the session
it only has 5 emergencies insured
: economic, financial, tariffs, energy and administrative.
The security one was not yet fully confirmed that it would be granted due to the differences with
Patricia Bullrich
's policy .
Beyond that, the libertarians will obtain the approval of this article, despite the rejection of the deputies of Unión por la Patria, the Left Front, the Civic Coalition and some provincial blocs.
But he also had to back down with the intention that the powers be for 2 years with the possibility of extending them for another 2, until the end of the mandate.
The opposition pushed back and
reduced them to 1 year
with the possibility of extending them for another year but with the approval of Congress.
Privatizations under the orbit of Congress
Without a doubt, one of the most discussed topics is article 7 of chapter II of the majority opinion, which has to do with the privatization of public companies.
The text, according to the opinion, states that companies and societies owned wholly or majority owned by the State are declared “subject to privatization”, under the terms and with the effects of Law No. 23,696 on State Reform.
And an annex is included with the list of companies in conditions of passing into private hands.
Of the 40 companies that were proposed by the Government to be privatized, the opposition managed to remove YPF from the payroll, while Banco Nación, ARSAT and Nucleoeléctrica would have a mixed administration.
Furthermore, in the negotiations this Thursday it was established that of the 36 that the ruling party wanted to privatize, the sales sign
will finally be placed at 27
.
The Investment and Foreign Trade Bank (BICE), the Mint, Military Fabrications, Radio Litoral, the Radio and TV Service of the University of Córdoba, the New Generation Space Vehicle, and the Dionisio Water Mining Deposits were removed.
It was
another concession
that the Government had to make in order to move forward with the law.
The opposition is making noise about the sale of state companies and some are asking for a report on the reasons why they should be privatized.
The Civic Coalition, for example, had proposed a list of less than 20 companies, including Aerolíneas Argentinas, Ferrocarriles Argentinos and public media.
Meanwhile, both the UCR and the bloc chaired by Miguel Angel Pichetto raised their conditions.
The thing is that the radicals want it to be
law by law
while We Make the Federal Coalition propose the formation of a bicameral commission that is not binding.
To a certain extent it coincides with the Government project promoted by the “Bicameral Commission for Monitoring Privatizations”, but the dissident Peronists ask that it have a pass through the premises.
The discussion is open.
Milei will not have retirement mobility, withholdings and money laundering either
When the Minister of Economy,
Luis Caputo
, announced the elimination of the fiscal chapter, he closed the door to several of the measures that Milei thought to advance with the adjustment that would allow him to move towards reducing the deficit.
He went back with articles 71 and 72 that have to do with retirement mobility.
In principle, the Government aimed to eliminate the current mobility formula and proposed increases by decree.
Faced with rejection from the opposition, he agreed to maintain the current formula until March and move forward with a monthly inflation update starting in April.
Caputo also closed the discussion about withholdings because Milei wanted all regional economies and industries to pay 15% for export duties.
Although the Government gave in and left a group of regional economies free of withholdings, the issue was never fully agreed upon and, on top of that, it maintained increases in industrialized economies and raised soy by-products, such as flour, from 31% to 33%. and the oil.
The minister also had to
lower the articles related to money laundering, moratorium and personal assets
, partly due to pressure from the governors who sought to make the proceeds from capital regulation shareable.
Incidents in front of Congress, this Thursday.
Photo: Juano Tesone.
Strictly speaking, the ruling party had agreed to modifications and the project, according to the opinion, established that non-resident subjects who adhere to the Asset Regulation Regime will not be able to declare assets that are in the name of third parties and officials who have served in the Regime are excluded. role in the last 5 years.
The proceeds were going to be used to capitalize the Central Bank.
Milei was also unable to advance with a
broad electoral reform
that included the incorporation of single-member constituencies, the elimination of PASO and the updating of the composition of the Chamber of Deputies.
It was decided that everything would be discussed in the ordinary period, which will begin in March.
The same fate was found in article 331 of the omnibus law, which required authorization for a demonstration and defined that it was the “intentional and temporary congregation of three or more people in a public space.”
The opposition blocks questioned whether they will accompany the chapter linked to security that Patricia Bullrich demands.
Among the changes, the articles that affected the
Fisheries Law and the idea of modifying the Burning Law were
eliminated and the period for the Enforcement Authority to authorize a burn was extended from 30 to 90 days.
And an article was incorporated that guarantees resources for the Forest Fund.