The proposed law, which will be debated in the Senate, grants President Milei special powers to privatize state-owned companies, eliminate a pension moratorium, create a new investment incentive scheme and a labor reform.
With 142 votes in favor, 106 against and 6 abstentions, the initiatives were approved in general, within the frame of a marathon session that began on Monday morning and lasted for 30 hours. Meanwhile, outside the Congress, social and political movements, as well as trade unions demonstrated against the proposed legislation.
The law was backed by ruling party La Libertad Avanza, with support from PRO and UCR; Unión por la Patria, the left wing and socialists voted against it.
Leaders of the pro-government political forces and the opposition spoke about the approval of the Bases Law, which needs to be also approved by the Senate to be in force and grant the President special powers to privatize state-owned companies, eliminate a pension moratorium, create a new investment incentive scheme and a labor reform.
President Javier Milei said that “the Lower House has just approved the Law for the bases and starting points for Argentines’ freedom”.
“This is an essential first step to take Argentina out of the swamp in which it has been the last decades. I’d like to thank the hard work of Congresspeople who, aware of the historical moment we’re living, decided to back our project. With this first step, we’re closer to a meeting on May 25 in Córdoba to kick off a new era of prosperity for Argentina. As General San Martín said: “Let’s be free, the rest doesn’t matter at all”, wrote the President on his X account.
Libertad Avanza leader in Congress, Gabriel Bonoroni, said that the proposed bill represents “the first great reform of our country, to give Argentinians more freedom” and underlined that “the goal of the law is to reform the State. We’ll have a more efficient and agile State. Dependencies that are no longer relevant will be eliminated, so the “elephant State” will be a thing of the past. Less State, more freedom”.
Presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni wrote on his X account that “the Law for the bases and starting points for Argentines’ freedom has been approved by the Lower House. Finally”.
Conversely, chief of Buenos Aires Province advisors Cristina Álvarez Rodríguez said: “With the Bases Law, Milei and his accomplices are putting the country up for sale. Superpowers, privatizations, labor reform, expanding the retirement age” and added that “these are old recipes that didn’t work and lead millions of Argentinians to ruin. They have put the future of our Nation at risk”.
La Rioja governor Ricardo Quintela asked people “to reflect on the huge setback that this implies as a Nation” and said that “this bill proposed by the President only brings benefits to the most powerful economic groups in the country”.
He emphasized that the law “discards every right that workers have fought for along our history, abandons the working class and legitimizes illegal practices of employers who don’t abide by their responsibilities, to name just an example”.
“In over 200 years of history, we managed to have a country where women have the right to a pension, after a life dedicated to taking care of their families without ever being paid for their hard work; where children, young people and adults are protected by a State that guarantees access to health care and education; a country where natural resources are protected, because protecting the Earth is taking care of everyone’s future”, he added.
Along the same line, Argentina Humana leader Juan Grabois spoke to Radio Con Vos and said that “today is a very sad day. Another vile day in Argentinian history”, while underlining that “international corporations won, national industry lost; the privileged elites won, the working class lost; the drug-dealing money launderers won, tax payers lost”.
He added: “They eliminate the pension moratorium, but they introduce a tax moratorium that seems to be born out of the powerful groups’ vengefulness. They offer payments, discounts, almost a reward to those who didn’t pay the tax to big fortunes”, and he criticized the President “who defended criminals by saying those who buy US dollars in the illegal market are heroes”.
Grabois also said that “an Argentina completely deregulated in its financial transactions will become a narco-state like Ecuador. And that triples or quadruples the murder rate, especially among poor young people. This money laundering law is corruption and it is the blood of our youth”.
Unión por la Patria Congressman Leopoldo Moreau said that the project “only repeats past failures, made even worse” and underlined that “our society is helpless, with these dehumanizing policies, with a State that doesn’t work” and emphasized that “this anarcho-capitalism will end up in anarchy”.
In turn, Buenos Aires Province’s Minister of Economy Pablo López said: “They want to reform Argentina’s tax system and they are eliminating its progressiveness and equity. That’s what the changes in the Wealth Tax are all about”.
And he concluded: “History repeats itself, this time boosted as a scheme that, with the Bases Law and the Decree, seeks to favor the wealthiest sectors and to proposes an austerity program for the working and middle classes and the provinces. Next thing they’ll tell us we must wait for the trickle-down effect”.
Along the same line, in conversation with Radio Provincia, employment attorney and member of the Judiciary Council Héctor Recalde said that the Bases Law “aims at annihilating rights” and added that “there will be a rain of legal actions, because this law is unconstitutional”.
“Every change proposed by the law is regressive: lower layoff compensations, higher defenselessness and punishments against trade union’ activities”, he underlined and added that “this law doesn’t take workers’ human rights into account”.
He emphasized that “there is currently a 3-month trial period in employment contracts, but now it will be one year”. He rejected that extension and analyzed it as a contrivance “so companies can layoff employees without compensation”.
He also pointed out that “with this government, workers have lost 20% of their purchasing power and retirees, 25%. He anticipated that “the Bases Law will go to Court. There will be a rain of legal actions, because this law is unconstitutional. If there is no social justice and it’s not progressive, the law cannot stand”.
The leader of CTA-A trade union Oscar De Isasi spoke along the same line, saying that the national administration “has gone further than the dictatorship” and called people to get organized to “twist its arm”.
He considered the Bases Law “is a combo to perfect the surrender, the looting and the austerity measures against the working class, via a hidden labor reform, the privatization of state-owned companies and losing strategic positions in relation to the resources of our country”.
Lastly, he denounced that Javier Milei’s government “plans to surrender our land to multinational companies and presented a labor reform as if it was Robin Hood’s commissioner”, adding that “the President is in a hurry because he knows he will lose popular support”.