First victory allows Milei to demonstrate the ability to govern in a minority – News

“The partial approval of the ‘Bases Law’ was the first litmus test that Milei overcame to demonstrate that she can make decisions based on consensus, dialogue and agreements. Until now, all political analysts were wondering how Milei would manage to govern without a majority to approve laws. This is the great news of this legislative victory, regardless of its content”, explains to Lusa political scientist Lucas Romero, director of the consultancy Synopsis, a reference in Argentina.

This Tuesday (30), after 29 hours and 20 minutes of debate, the second longest legislative day in Argentine history, the government obtained its first victory in the Chamber of Deputies, achieving half sanction of the so-called “Basic Law”. , a package of basic tools with which President Javier Milei intends to deregulate the State and modernize the economy.

In mid-May, when treatment in the Senate is expected, Milei will be able to obtain his first law, five months after taking office.

“When we looked at this government, in an absolute minority, we saw that a lot of political construction would be needed to make decisions. At the same time, we saw an intransigent and dogmatic President, far from this objective. Now, we are seeing a much more pragmatic Milei”, compares Romero.

The officially called “Law of bases and starting points for the freedom of Argentines” was generally approved by 142 votes in favor, 106 against and five abstentions. For approval, 129 votes in favor were needed, a challenging limit for a government with only 37 deputies, around 15% of deputies.

In the private vote on each of the 25 chapters of the law, in addition to 21 chapters of a tax package, approvals fluctuated between 134 and 142 votes.

In the Senate, however, the challenge will be even greater. Milei only has 10% of the senators, needing to play the political game even more through a narrow path of opponents.

In February, the attempt to approve the “Basic Law” failed when the Government decided to withdraw the text from the debate, after the opposition began to change each section of each article.

Since February, while President Javier Milei has disdained what he calls the “political caste that prevents him from governing”, he has sought to negotiate a consensus with the same “caste”.

The result was a more than dehydrated package of laws, far from the ideal envisioned by the Government, but within the scope allowed by the opposition.

“Milei went from being intransigent and ambitious to being limited by the political system he faced. Begin to understand its role in a decision system. This is the signal that economic analysts and the International Monetary Fund wanted to see”, says Lucas Romero.

Of those initial 664 articles with six annexes, only 232 articles remained with a single annex. Therefore, 432 articles were excluded.

The labor reform, for example, decreased from 60 articles to 15, excluding the entire union chapter.

The “reform” is now just a “modernization” that makes the employment model more flexible, but does not affect the power of the unions.

Another dehydrated aspect is the privatization chapter. Of the 41 privatizable state-owned companies, only 11 remained. The other 30 companies escaped sale.

The government was also prohibited from ending several public bodies that it had promised to eliminate.

The granting of superpowers went from eleven areas for two years to just four for one year. No area is sensitive: administrative, economic, financial and energy.

“The market wants to know if Milei is limited to making decisions only about public spending or if he can move forward with structural reforms. So far, the President has only made progress in attacking the fiscal deficit. There is a lack of laws to deregulate the State”, points out economist Rodrigo Álvarez.

Milei’s first legislative victory is an asset to be shown to investors and the International Monetary Fund. Shares of Argentine companies on Wall Street rose up to 7% and the Buenos Aires stock exchange rose 3.8%.

“I just arrived from the United States. Investors want proof that Argentina can be fiscally sustainable, that it can accumulate international reserves and that the government can pass laws. They want to know if Milei has the political muscle to do this”, concludes Rodrigo Álvarez.