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Javier Miley's libertarian party suddenly withdrew a comprehensive reform bill from the floor of Argentina's House of Representatives, accusing opposition lawmakers of “treason” in a major setback for the president's legislative agenda.
The House of Representatives, where Miley's La Libertad Avanza coalition controls less than 15 percent of the seats, voted to approve the base of the “omnibus bill” that Miley submitted last Friday. But opposition lawmakers continued to reject several crucial proposals in an article-by-article vote on Tuesday, including expanding presidential powers to set some economic policies.
The LLA said on Tuesday evening that it would return the bill to committees for further discussion.
“Betrayal will be costly [LLA] “We will not allow governors to blackmail people to maintain their privileges,” the coalition said in
Miley's Interior Minister, Guillermo Francos, said lawmakers “cast votes that they did not then cast” and that “the law loses its essence.”
Miley, a testy former television commentator who founded his party in 2021, has long faced questions about how he would build a majority in Congress to govern and enact his plans to cut spending and economic regulations in Argentina.
The government's “inflammatory rhetoric” is “a bad sign for the final approval of the bill,” said Eugenia Michelstein, an assistant professor of politics at the University of San Andres in Buenos Aires, noting that it was unusual for legislation to return to committee at this stage in Argentina.
The LLA had already significantly pared down the bill, removing more than two-thirds of its original 664 articles, to win the support of centrist lawmakers. It still includes measures such as the green light to privatize twenty state companies, tightening penalties for protests that block roads, and easing some environmental protection measures.
The LLA's move overturns last Friday's vote and means the entire bill will return to committee before a second attempt at approval in the House.
“If the government is trying to show its political ability to build agreements, this is a very dangerous outcome,” said Juan Cruz Díaz, managing director of Argentine political consultancy Cividas.
“But it seems the government [strategy] “He is openly confronting conservatives and Congress, as a way to reinforce the narrative that he stands up to the political establishment and thus increase his popular support,” Diaz added. “It's a risky move, although not unexpected.”
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