Facing defeat, Argentina’s governing bloc will allow debate on disability and household debt in lower house

Argentina’s governing libertarian bloc will join an opposition-called session in the lower house, an unexpected move aimed at avoiding a political defeat while retaining control of the agenda.

The session will address extending the disability emergency, which expires at the end of the year, along with proposals concerning household debt and delinquency. The government is expected to provide the quorum at noon after a late parliamentary meeting convened by Gabriel Bornoroni in Martín Menem’s office. Most leaders of allied blocs attended, including representatives of the PRO, the UCR and Argentina Federal. Provincias Unidas and lawmakers from Catamarca did not take part.

Government representatives said they would not obstruct the session because the opposition already appeared to have enough votes to force both proposals into committee and set dates for committee reports. The libertarian bloc had also proposed merging the committee assignments for the debt and delinquency bills and completing reports on both issues before Sept. 30. Under its timetable, the disability bill would receive a report on Sept. 23, followed by the debt and delinquency proposals on Sept. 30.

Parts of the opposition distrust that plan and suspect the government wants to delay the debates until the budget is discussed. Salta lawmaker Yolanda Vega left the meeting shortly after it began and said the government’s commitment was only verbal, with no formal file supporting it.

The opposition had wanted to use the session to guarantee committee action on both proposals, with dates one week earlier than those suggested by the libertarians. The dispute is expected to produce a tense debate in the chamber.

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