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Argentine President Javier Milei has sent an extensive state reform bill to Congress, with measures such as tax amnesties and restrictions on protests, opening up a new front in the libertarian economist’s battle to rapidly reshape the South American country.
Coming a week after Milei issued a wide-ranging emergency order to deregulate Argentina’s economy, the new bill tackles the four areas of policy — tax, penal, electoral and the party system — that presidents cannot effect by decree. It dramatically expands his to-do list in Congress, where he holds only a small minority of seats, and where opposition lawmakers have pledged to strike down the decree and challenge Milei’s ambitious agenda.
The 664-article bill proposes allowing Argentines to register undeclared assets at home and abroad without paying hefty taxes, scrapping the country’s proportional representation voting system for Congress, giving stronger legal penalties to those who organise road-blocking protests and granting new powers for the security ministry to limit demonstrations.
It also proposes Congress cede some legislative power on areas including tax, pensions, energy and security to the presidency until the end of 2025.
Milei’s charge to radically overhaul the government and economy since taking office earlier this month has run into some initial resistance at home. The country’s powerful labour unions held thousands-strong protests in several cities including Buenos Aires on Wednesday to oppose the decree relaxing labour market rules.
Milei has argued that Argentina’s worst economic crisis in two decades, which has pushed annual inflation above 160 per cent, constitutes a national emergency. He has pointed to a mandate from voters — who gave him a 56 per cent vote share at the run-off election in November — to take drastic steps to solve it.
Congress must approve the bill Milei presented on Wednesday for it to become law. The decree, however, will remain in place unless both the lower house and senate vote against it.
Should that happen, Milei said in an interview on Tuesday night that he would call a non-binding referendum “so then [Congress] can explain to me why they are against the people”. He also accused some legislators of “looking for bribes” in exchange for votes, without giving names.
Milei’s rapid reform push is a “very bold strategy”, said Lucas Romero, director of Synopsis political consultancy. “He has taken more decisions in less time than perhaps any other president . . . triggering many complex, substantial political processes all at once.”
“The question is whether he will [now] pivot to trying to build consensuses, or if he continues escalating this conflict between him and the rest of Argentina’s politicians, which could lead us down a path of political instability,” he added.
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