Nearly 200 phantom workers at Argentina's parliament have been caught in a crackdown on employees who only show up sporadically for their jobs, it has been reported. According to La Nacion, the Argentine Congress implemented a new attendance control system for employees two months ago, and it has already caught 190 who had not shown up for long periods without a good explanation.
Twenty three newly elected Senators took the oath of office in Argentina on Wednesday morning including ex presidents Carlos Menem, Adolfo Rodriguez Saa and Cristina Fernandez. The midterm election to renew a third of the Upper house was held in October and the new legislature will formally begin 10 December.
Julio De Vido, an ex-minister in former Argentine President Cristina Fernandez's government, was jailed after turning himself in to authorities on Wednesday, marking an anti-corruption milestone in a country known for impunity.
The Argentine Senate unanimously (58/58) passed a bill with a special pensions' scheme, described as exceptional and optional for those citizens who were involved in the Malvinas war. The vote was cheered by the veterans present at the session's discussion.
The 13th September joint statement between Argentina and the UK is a new bilateral convergence of common interests and the possibility, in the framework of a new dialogue and cooperation, of sovereignty discussions resumption on the Malvinas, South Georgia, South Sandwich islands and adjoining maritime spaces question, Argentine Deputy foreign minister Carlos Foradori told the Lower House Foreign Affairs committee during a summons on Wednesday.
The chair of Argentina's Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee Elisa Carrió has supported president Mauricio Macri's nonnegotiable stance on the Falklands/Malvinas sovereignty dispute and attributed the Argentina/UK joint statement controversy to minor questions of communication, nevertheless she summoned deputy foreign minister Carlos Foradori to Congress next Wednesday.
The administration of president Mauricio Macri overcame a first hurdle in the Argentine congress to have its debt normalization bill approved, which should help bring to an end years of litigation with the holdout funds and open access to global money markets in normal conditions.
At the formal opening of the 134th congressional term on Tuesday, Argentine president Mauricio Macri said on Tuesday that his administration is building mature and sensible relations with all countries of the world, and Mercosur is a priority, but dialoguing with world leaders, including British PM David Cameron “does not mean giving up our sovereignty claim over the Malvinas Islands”.
In a one hour speech before the Argentine congress, president Mauricio Macri spent half the time describing the country he received and in the other half made some announcements, but above all tried to transmit optimism, willingness to overcome, and insisted in the three pillars of his electoral pledge, eliminating poverty, combating drug-trafficking and unity among all Argentines.
Outgoing Argentine president Cristina Fernandez will be leaving not only the Central bank reserves exhausted but also a budget deficit which is estimated at 7% of GDP by the end of the fiscal year, equivalent to 400.000 million Pesos, according to the country's National Auditing Office, AGN.