The Senate of Argentina rejects the deregulation of the Milei economy

The president says that this result is an "attempt to undermine" the Government: "It is impossible to interpret it any other way"

The Senate of Argentina has rejected this Thursday the deregulation of the economy proposed by the president, Javier Milei, called 'Decree of Necessity and Urgency' (DNU), which includes 300 laws to implement variations in the labor market and health plans , the repeal of the rental law and the privatization of public companies.

The Upper House has decided to reject the decree with 42 votes against (mostly from Kirchnerism), 25 in favor (from La Libertad Avanza, an official party, and its partners) and four abstentions. The measure, which is in force, must also be rejected by Parliament for it to fall.

Therefore, this strategy will now depend on what happens in the Chamber of Deputies, where the ruling party will have a little more room to obtain approval to ratify the norm, although it may be the first to be repealed by both chambers.

Milei has reacted to the result of the election, although it was no surprise since the day before he described the Senate's treatment of the decree as "hasty", in what was understood as an attack on his 'number two', Victoria. Villarruel, who made the decision to convene the session in the Upper House.

"What happened today in the Chamber of Senators of the Nation violates the call of the president," he lamented, referring to the May Pact, a consensus agreement on several points with the governors of the 23 Argentine provinces and the head of Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.

In this sense, he has criticized that "the same chamber that has enabled almost 500 DNU of Kirchnerism, has been responsible for rejecting" Milei's just three months after his takeover. "It is impossible to interpret this decision in any other way than as an attempt to undermine the May Pact, the National Government and the change chosen by the Argentines," he stated.

The Argentine president has stressed that the aforementioned pact was an "unprecedented historical event" aimed at "all members of the political leadership without party distinction" and that it had been "long demanded by the political class for decades but that no one has dared to convene." " and that "necessarily requires the good will of all sectors of national political life."

"The president proposed two alternatives: agreement or confrontation. The time has come for the political class to decide which side of history they want to be on," he concluded, according to a statement from the presidential office.

On Wednesday, Milei had expressed "his concern about the unilateral decision of some sectors of the political class that intend to advance with their own agenda without consultation, in order to hinder negotiations and dialogue between the different sectors of the political leadership."

The relationship between Milei and Villarruel has shown signs of strain before. In fact, she had claimed (and the president had promised her) the Ministry of Security, granted to Patricia Bullrich; and that of Defense, to Luis Petri.