MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine Senate okays no PASO elections and in absentia trials

Both bills are now up to the Executive to be signed into law

Argentina's Senate Thursday passed a bill suspending the Primary, Open, Simultaneous, and Mandatory (PASO) elections for 2025 with 43 affirmative votes, 20 against, and six abstentions. The initiative simplifies the electoral process and leaves it up to each political force to appoint its candidates in the manner they see fit. In addition, the Upper House approved the Trial in Absentia bill, which among other things would allow the Iranians accused of the 1994 AMIA bombing to be tried. Thursday's session also highlighted internal parliamentary divisions among the various legislative blocs.

President Javier Milei's Libertarian Government celebrated Thursday's victory through a statement on X while pledging to “continue working” to definitively eradicate primaries which “were used by political parties as a survey paid by all Argentines,” thus putting the interests of politicians before what the people need. It “is a luxury that Argentina cannot afford.” The bill passed Thursday only suspended the PASO for this year's mid-term elections but a complete removal is still pending.

In his speech, Senator Oscar Parrilli - a figure close to former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK) - argued that the Absentia Trial bill “supposedly comes to close a wound of that terrible, regrettable and repudiatory attack suffered by the Argentines and specifically by the Jewish community, such as the AMIA bombing.” Under CFK, Argentina concluded a treaty with Iran which was supposed to help investigate the case.

“What they are trying to do in this way, we understand that rather than closing the wounds, it will deepen them. And in any case, what it will do is to leave a feeling that in Argentina what we do is to sweep under the carpet the problems we have. And unfortunately, the story will not end with this law. What we have to do is to look for those who are really responsible for this attack,” Parrilli insisted.

The session included a minute's silence for the confirmed slaughtering of the Bibas children in Gaza, to which former Economy Minister (under CFK) and current Chairman of the Radical Civic Union (UCR) Martín Loustau did not adhere.

Opposing Parrilli's argument was Senator Luis Juez, who said his colleague's viewpoint was “very miserable” and pointed out that “there is no way to start life until one does not mourn, and one does not mourn until one clearly realizes that those responsible for causing the damage have been brought to Justice.”

The in-absentia trial bill was approved with 45 affirmative votes, 22 against, and 0 abstentions. Supporting the initiative were La Libertad Avanza (LLA), Propuesta Republicana (PRO), the UCR, various provincial parties, and a few Kirchnerites who deepened the crisis within the opposition.

Since both bills had been previously greenlighted by the Lower House, they are now up to the Executive to be signed into law. Given Milei's trip, currently in charge of that branch is Vice President Victoria Villarruel, who has full authority until Sunday to sign the decrees.