Argentina: Chamber approves Bus Law, in victory for Milei – 04/30/2024 – World

Argentina approved this Tuesday (29) President Javier Milei’s Bus Law, in a victory for the ultraliberal, who faces street protests over this and other initiatives. The text garnered 142 votes in favor and 106 against in the Chamber of Deputies. There were 5 abstentions. The text still needs to pass the Senate.

Although dehydrated to be able to advance in the Legislature, the set of reforms paves the way for privatizations and to increase Milei’s powers for a limited time, in addition to setting in motion a redesign of labor legislation. Along with this, a tax package also analyzed in this round reduces income tax exemption in the country.

The project is a less ambitious version of a text that failed in the Legislature in February. At the beginning of that month, deputies approved the original version, a jumble of more than 600 articles. But, a few days later, they completely dehydrated it to the point that the government bench removed the project from the agenda so that its desires would not go down the drain.

From that month until this April, the government did what it had not done before: sit down and negotiate. Several governors and groups of deputies were called to the Casa Rosada, and these conversations resulted in a consensus on the text that reached Congress this week.

The result was a revamped version of the project (there are now more than 230 articles) and more measured, but which maintains the pillars defended by the government.

Among other things, the Bus Law grants the Executive the ability to govern without Congress in four areas for one year. Namely: administrative, economic, financial and energy. Previously, there were 11 sectors that would be concentrated in Milei’s hands.

The mechanism is not uncommon, it is provided for in the Constitution and has even been used by opponents and predecessors of the current government, such as former Peronist president Alberto Fernández. Even so, the opposition in Congress claimed throughout this Monday that it was an “abusive delegation of tasks” to the president.

The legislative package also focuses on privatization. Among the nine privatizable companies are Aerolíneas Argentinas, Enarsa (oil company), Rádio e Televisão Argentina (communication) and Intercargo (assistance to airlines) — these four are subject to complete transfer to the private sector.

In the redesigned proposal presented by the government a few weeks ago, the Bank of the Nation was also included in the privatizable list, removed from the project in the last days of negotiations before reaching the Chamber.

A much more modest chapter on labor reform was also included than the government’s initial ambitions in this area, which were blocked by the Argentine courts. The section provides for an extension of the trial period to six months, eliminates fines for errors in labor records and allows the creation of a labor dismissal fund that replaces compensation.

The theme promises to add to the protests planned for this Wednesday’s holiday (1st) in the country, when Labor Day is celebrated.

The extensive law — whose name “ómnibus” is related to the Latin word, with the meaning of “for all” due to the breadth of themes — now depends on the approval of the Senate, where the scenario for Milei to form a majority is more complicated.

The president works with a very specific deadline to see his legislative package approved: May 25th. He called for the so-called “May Pact” for that date — a document of ten priorities that he intends to sign with the governors. Another task, of course, not easy, as it faces opposition from governors aligned with Kirchnerism.