President Javier Milei is at the Quinta de Olivos, from where he had given the order to prevent the opposition from achieving a quorum. However, they couldn't prevent it: the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Martín Menem, had to open the session with 135 legislators present.
The ruling party characterized this session as"the last gasp of the opposition and the departing deputies." "They are seeking to damage the government and the economic direction," they added.
The opposition's proposed agenda includes 13 projects. Among the most notable are increased funding for national universities and the Garrahan Hospital, reform of the fuel tax distribution and the sharing of National Treasury Contributions (ATN), the declaration of a scientific emergency, an initiative on Alzheimer's promoted by Representative Facundo Manes, and the repeal of several Decrees of Necessity and Urgency (DNUs) affecting cultural and scientific organizations.
The session, which is expected to be tense and marathon, has as its main objective the vote on increased funding for national universities, the scientific system, and Garrahan Hospital.
The ruling party's gamble was to bog down the session and drag out the debates. In a post, Menem's spokesperson stated:"According to calculations by the House parliamentary team, this session—tomorrow's—could last 38 hours. These times are estimated based on the number of official decrees, files, and decrees included in the agenda."
The President had said he would take legal action against opposition-sponsored bills that "threatened" the fiscal target. The reference had been to the pension increase, the moratorium, and the disability emergency; but the same logic prevails in this case.
The ruling party shows no concern about most of the issues because they are subpoenas. The agenda does not include vetoes of the pension increase, the disability emergency, and the moratorium extension laws, as the opposition decided to postpone their consideration due to not having the required two-thirds vote. However, legislators are expected to express their political positions on these government decisions during the session.
The holding of this session was not seen as a minor issue for the government. The ruling party had planned a photo opportunity for Milei and her eight main candidates in the September 7 Buenos Aires elections. The photo opportunity was questioned and ultimately canceled due to the tension surrounding this session."It wasn't feasible to hold it on the same day we have marches in front of Congress," said an official source.
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