Cecilia Moreau Tuesday became the first woman ever to be the Speaker of Argentina's House of Deputies after the resignation of Sergio Massa was accepted so that he can be appointed superminister of Economy, Agriculture, and Production.
A group of Argentine opposition lawmakers is sponsoring a bill to create a bench in the Lower House dedicated to the Malvinas Islands, which will remain symbolically empty until its “legitimate occupant” finally arrives.
Argentina's opposition party Together for a Change (Juntos por el Cambio – JxC – or simply “Juntos”) has won six out of eight Senatorial elections Sunday, which means the ruling Everybody's Front (Frente de Todos – FdT) will lose President Alberto Fernández's coalition a majority of its own at the Upper House as of Dec. 10.
In a defiant speech before the Legislative that launched the campaign for the October midterm elections, Argentine president Alberto Fernandez on Monday opened the 139th Congressional period of ordinary sessions with a barrage of attacks on the opposition, Judiciary, media and the concentrated economic powers.
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.
After rough discussions, Argentina's Lower House committees on Tuesday managed to clear the holdouts bill for debate with changes proposed by the allied Renewal Front and criticism from Victory Front lawmakers.The bill will reach the floor next week. If it passes, it will then be up for debate in the Senate, where the situation is similar, with the ruling Let’s Change needing help from opposition lawmakers to ensure the bill passes.
Argentina's main opposition party suffered a split on Wednesday after an estimated fifteen of its lawmakers quit, party leaders admitted, handing a boost to newly-elected President Mauricio Macri's hopes of pushing his legislative agenda through Congress. In effect, Macri's political alliance in the Lower House becomes the majority grouping.
Sunday's midterm election in Argentina has become crucial for the government of President Cristina Fernandez who must retain control of Congress in the last two years of her mandate ahead of the 2015 presidential election, otherwise she runs the risk of becoming a lame duck accompanied by a most unwished end for the legacy of the Kirchner couple decade-plus rule.
Argentine Lower House opposition lawmakers announced on Tuesday that inflation in November had reached 1.44%, accumulating so far this year, 22.63%. The so called ‘Congressional index’ is an average of the estimates from private consultants who face heavy fines if they make public their numbers.
The newly appointed Argentine Lower House president, Julián Domínguez, in a conciliatory message assured on Tuesday that “plurality is guaranteed in Congress” and called for “everyone’s political commitment to guarantee everybody’s interests.”